Update on Us

Hey everyone! Emily here. I thought I would give a little bit of an update on us. We have now reached 150 miles!! Woohoo! We are pretty far behind, but I think we can make it still. I have hope. I think I can, I think I can....

As far as working out goes, I haven't been very consistent lately. I have still been doing my long runs, but not so much the short runs. Last week I did a 4 miler that was pretty good on Wednesday, and then a 7 mile on Saturday that was one of the most painful runs I have ever done. Whoever decided to make our local bike path concrete should be shot. I decided to map out residential runs from now on so I can at least stay on asphalt, and hopefully this summer hit some dirt. I have been running with one of the middle schoolers from my youth group on the long runs. She is so much fun and she totally keeps me motivated :) But, I may have to turn her down for the long runs together for a bit. She is also running track and she has developed really really bad shin splints, and I don't want her to get injured. So now the trick is figuring out how to get those long runs in on my own. I have found the key - when you run 3 1/2 miles away from your car, you HAVE to run 3 1/2 miles to get it back. It's both a blessing and a curse, but it gets the job done. Today I ran a mile on the treadmill, then did BodyPump, then went back and did another 2 miles and a 1/4 cool down. In all I burned 900 calories! I have been dead tired for most of the day. But I'm determined to reach my goal of 20 miles for the week.

Unfortunately we have had some sad news from the past week as well. Liesl's grandpa became very ill last week and went to be with the Lord on Saturday. She and her family are in Colorado right now for his service. Please keep her family in your prayers this week for their travels and hearts during this difficult time. Also, we found out last week our grandma was diagnosed with cancer. As of yet I haven't heard what the test results were as far as how bad it is or what kind of cancer it is. It's times like these when it is very hard to stay motivated, when your body wants to grieve like your emotions are, but that is when we grow closer and we need something to help us cope. Please keep our family in your prayers this week. Have a blessed day!

Emily

I'm a total slacker!

I have a ton to blog about, and just haven't been doing it. So, here is my effort to catch up!

First, I haven't been running much lately. I'm still having trouble with my thigh, but, now it seems to have moved more into my hip. I was hoping it was just going to go away, but it hasn't yet. So, I started looking for a sports med Dr here in my little town. They don't have them here, but they do have Orthos who are apparently the people to see for sports related injuries. I have an appointment with their PA on Tuesday, and then I'll be able to see one of them. I wish it were sooner, but it's not. I really want to run today, but I can't decide if it's bad enough to actually go ahead and make an appointment, is it too bad to run through? It hurts a little bit now, and doesn't seem to hurt too much while running, but I'm fairly sure I'll be paying for it after the run, maybe even for a couple of days. Bummer.

Next, I got to go to a REAL live running store last weekend! We don't have one here in town, the closest is hundreds of miles away. But, I ended up in Durango for the weekend, and they have one! Turns out, I'm an over pronator, but just on the right side. Which, is the side that I'm having trouble with. The man who was helping us said that the over pronation probably caused some of the trouble I'm having in my thigh, and that my hip trouble might be because my right leg is a little longer than my left. I hope that's it! I got a new pair of shoes that I love, but have only been able to run in once because of the pain. They're Sauconys, and they're actually men's shoes, but they feel GREAT! I also got the special socks, those are so great, I can't believe I was running in cotton ones before. These are so much softer, I want to wear them all the time, but at $10 a pair, I don't think I can afford it!

While I was in Durango, I met a marathon runner. In person is kind of cool. I know a lot of you from the blogging world, but there's something to seeing someone face to face who has run 26.2 miles.

My first official 5k is scheduled for the 20th of this month. I'm really excited, and hoping that I can still make it.

That about sums it up for now. I promise it won't be so long next time :)

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!

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

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 :)

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!

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!