Friday, January 31, 2014

A Heart For God

Well, we had our Winter storm last night for which I fully prepared. Annabelle, Joey and I went to the store for supplies, aka -milk.  :). We then headed to the library to play and get some good reading material for our cabin days ahead.  


Snow shmo.  We got like 2-3 inches which is like nothing unless you live in Atlanta.  Sorry, couldn't help it.  My good friend was actually there during the fiasco for work and had to abandon her car.  I'm sure it wasn't so funny for her.  Anyway it is chilly out and Joey has a runny nose so I feel like we are kind of trapped in doors.

Running this week has been good!  My paces are not the best, but I am up with miles and I can feel it!  If I actually get to do my long run tomorrow I will be right at 40 miles for the week!

Sunday was a rest day
Monday was 7 mile tempo
Tuesday was 6 easy
Wednesday was 6.5 tempo
Thurs was 5 miles speed (5 1/2 mile repeats between 6:53-6:40 pace)
Today was 4.5 miles easy
Tomorrow hopefully 11 BUT it will most likely have to be done on the treadmill and I just cannot fathom that!!!!  Longest I have ever run has been 9 on a treadmill.

"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalm 73:26. 

That verse was the cover in a young girl's Facebook page.  She was diagnosed 5 years ago with a fibrous heart tumor just months after her own father died in expectantly from a heart arrhythmia.  This girl, I never met her, was very very close to our former pastor's family and some other friends.  Almost 2 weeks ago I received an email from a friend for prayer regarding her family, as this sweet girl went home to be with The Lord. Although she had a heart tumor, her passing was very unexpected and she left so many loved ones behind.  Over 2000 people came to her funeral.  Over 150 people came to know Christ as their Savior!  Her story was amazing, and the night before she passed away she wrote in her journal that she did not want to have heart problems and would never have chosen it, but that God was "the boss" of her life.  Our pastor,like a Dad to her, shared his sermon (planned over 6 months ago with this girl's life verse in his sermon notes)!  I listened to the podcast this morning during run.  Once again I was reminded that my flesh and my heart will fail one day, but God is my strength forever.  I want to ALWAYS seek Him, and that is hard, because of the distractions of life.  But what is really important in life??  Knowing The love of Christ and sharing it with others.  My running heart is strong, my spiritual heart needs nourishment that only Christ can give!  His love conquers all.  This young girl knew that!  She left behind her heart for God that we get to see in the lives of all she knew.  Amazing that a girl with such a weak physical heart had a strong spiritual heart, and IT is still beating!  I feel it and I had never met her.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us..."  Phil 12:1

My ultimate race is my life, and my glory is Christ.  Thank you sweet girl I never met for reminding me of it!






Sunday, January 26, 2014

Long Run and Outside


I feel very VERY blessed to live where I do!  Colorado has the very best winters in my opinion.  They are very mild, rarely dipping below 30.  This week has been averaging 50s!   We are forecasted for some snow tomorrow, but then those Spring like temps will be right back melting away any kind of evidence of Winter.  I DO enjoy snow, but I hate being cooped up.  

My planned 11 mile run turned into 10. I was not running as fast as I wanted, and I needed to get home to the fam.  I have a small cold.  Not dizzy or feverish, but just enough of one to feel run down. Plus, Joey had me up at 5am!!!  My overall average pace was 8:30.  This isn't bad for a long run, but I was wanting to turn it into more of a tempo run.  I got one of those miles around an 8 minute pace, but most were right at a 8:30 pace. At least it is done!  I got home, walked to the park with Annabelle.  Then we all trekked to Boulder for the afternoon for another mile walk with the kids.  So technically I put in 12 miles.  :)  My last mile pace was 1 hour!  Nice!  ;)



That is a real tree trunk she is sitting on!

Anyone heard of vegetable tea?  I got a sampler from a friend.  At first it DID NOT sound good to me at all!!!  But I tried it, and really like it!  My favorite so far has been "Beet and Cabbage".

Today was a rest day.  Michael had to work, and Joey had me up until 2am!   I was pretty tired.  But, we went to the park for an hour or so and ran around, so  I felt refreshed!  I also did a 15 minute yoga video today specifically for runners. I feel great!  No soreness at all.

We are down to one vehicle right now, so we have been very limited in getting around when Michael is at work.  I feel cooped up so easily, and find that I get depressed from lack of a social circle. It is hard being home with your children so much, but I KNOW it is what is best for them.  I know that all the little decisions (having a plan for the day, getting outside, playing with them, reading to them) make for a better home life for us all. It is really easy though to think mothering is not that big of a deal, probably because it is not valued very much in our society.  But I know that God does value it.  I pray that I can remember that when it is hard.  I love my children so much, but I often struggle with guilt that I want and NEED time to myself as well.  Does anyone feel this way?  I wonder if it will EVER go away or if that is just what everyone meant when they said your life changes forever when they are born!!!  It does change for the better!  But change is hard, and good grief the change is constant with those precious babes!

Here's to a new week!

Anyone stay home with their kiddos?
What do you do for "me" time?
How cold is it where you live?

Friday, January 24, 2014

Running Update, Food Favorites

Running has been "so so" this week.  I don't like weeks when I don't see the improvement or better yet, unable to keep up with past workouts.  BUT, I was thinking today, whilst sauntering along on the dreadmill, how a runner (a really GOOD runner) needs humility to see improvement.  You cannot expect a speedy run EVERY run.  You must see easy runs as IMPORTANT runs.  You have to listen to your body, to know when to push it and when to back off.  While wanting a PR or to win a race is fine, sometimes it can consume the mind.  But as I was running today I was thinking how we are CREATED beings with limits.  Even the Olympic Sprinter Bolt, has limits.  God has NONE!  Amazing.  He is perfect, always has been and always will be.  I want to remember my CREATOR, because some day my bod is going to give out, but my heart (spiritual heart) I want strong in Him.

So, I do have a 1/2 marathon coming up first part of April.  Tomorrow I have a long run on the schedule.  My plan is 11 miles.  For me, I take a little of all the training plans and come up with my own.  One week I will focus on strong tempo runs or running a 5K or 10K all out, then next week I do 1/2 mile repeats and fartleks.  Right now I can run about 4-5 1/2 mile repeats at at 6:40 pace with a 200m recovery jog.  Sometimes my long runs are easy runs, and sometimes I turn them into tempo runs.  It really depends on the week and how I feel.  Another thing I have been doing are strides at the end of my easy runs.  I run almost all out for a couple of minutes to remind my body what it is like to run fast.  I mean, if you run a ton of easy miles, your body will get used to that.  The day before my 15k I ran 1 mile easy 2 miles 5k pace and .5 recovery jog.  My legs were fresh on race day, and 8 minute miles felt really easy to me.  Does anyone else see how the day after some speed work, you can run BETTER? (provided you did it right).

Here are some of my non-race PRs since the fall:

6mile (44:54)
5mile (36:44)
3mile (21:26)

Anyway, I would love to see my 1/2 marathon time below 1:45 which is an 8 minute pace.  Unless I have a horrible race day, I don't see why I would not get this time.  My last 15K was at 7:54 pace.   My ultimate goal is 1:39.  But that probably will only happen if the conditions of self, weather and day are perfect.

Food

I finally tried the "No Knead Bread" Recipe that was posted in the New York Times last year.   I LOVE to make bread, and mostly we don't buy store bought.  I know this is not everyone's "thang" but I really enjoy baking.  Anyway, I have a cold right now, and I was not in my typical bread baking mood, so I thought about trying out of the No Knead recipe.  Results:  FANTASTIC!  The crumb, crust, texture was perfect!  My husband thought it was a little on the yeasty side (kind of reminded me of sour dough) but I really liked it!  Basically you mix all the ingredients just until you get a sticky wet dough and then cover and rest it for 20 some hours.  This is what you get:


VERY crusty!  I LOVED that!


Soft and chewy inside.


Nice rustic free form loaf.


Look at that crumb!!!


Another dinner delight that I have made 3 times in 3 weeks (yes, THAT good), is "Chicken Yakisoba" from "Budget Bytes".  Ummmmm DEISH!  PLUS, it is SUPER healthy and SUPER cheap.  Doesn't get much better than that.  You use Ramen noodles instead of Soba noodles (toss out the nasty seasoning packets loaded with MSG).  Check out all the YUMMY veggies:


Cabbage, carrots, broccoli, onion (seriously this dish is mostly veggies but it doesn't really taste that way)


All finished and ready for my tummy!  If you like ginger and spicy this meal is your friend.
Check out the link to the "Budget Bytes" recipe


Happy Friday!

Anyone have a favorite healthy food dish?
Do you bake?
Long run tomorrow?

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Go Broncos!

Woot woot!  Here we come Super Bowl. I have never been one to keep up with football!  But I have been following this season.  I actually watched the AFC championship game by myself today!  Michael had to work, so I recorded the game for him.  I was the only one who was not wearing a Broncos Jersey  at church today!  Denver is crazy crazy about football.  This was even more affirmed when I heard one of my neighbors screaming and cursing while watching the game!  Good grief, I was about to call 911!  I was sure there was some fight breaking out, until I heard him scream, "Moreno".  I will never understand THAT kind of passion for sports.

I have been thinking about getting into yoga to help with my running.  I don't really enjoy strength training, and I hear that yoga does wonders for strength and flexibility.  I intuitively agree with this. I have been focussing more on certain kinds of stretching, and my left knee (my problem knee) is feeling better.  Anyway, I hope to incorporate it into training.  

Today was a rest day.  I literally had no way of running without my kiddos fending for themselves. Some day I hope to own a treadmill.  Just as well, though. My kids are recovered now from nasty colds, and I have managed to fight it.  But this morning I woke up with an icky sinus headache.  Rest is good.  So I took advantage of the day and made some homemade pizza, stretched and watched the game.  Hoping for a good run tomorrow!

Does anyone practice yoga?
Watch the NFC or AFC games today?

Friday, January 17, 2014

Long Run: January Joy Outdoors


I am LOVING this weather!!!  The next few days will be in the 50s and full on sunshine!!  My kind of winter!  I don't mind snow as long as it is warm enough to play in it.  Today was light jacket weather, and most of our time was outside!  I decided to do my long run today instead of tomorrow, because Michael was home all day.  I slept in until 7am!  Yup, that is sleeping in for me.  In the Winter, I wake up at 5:20 and try to get to the gym by 6:20.  I run a lot of miles on the treadmill because it is too dark to run outside, and I don't want my workouts dominating the morning.  I do try to save my long run for outside though, to remind my legs how to run on the road.  This week and last week, I have done some pretty intense speed work, so I just kind of went with the flow today.  I ran 9 miles at an easy pace of 8:30.  I felt really good, and could have ran more, but I had a few things to do.

I took the kids out for bike rides and walks today.


Cutest neighbor cat.  He is the most friendly and social cat I have ever met!  We call him Joshua, because we make up stories about his life.  



Enjoy your weekend!  Hopefully nice weather will visit you!

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

It's Been a While

Well, I have not been on here in like a million years!  Ok, more like 3 or 4 months I think.  The Holidays got a hold of me, and would not let go!  Now it is Winter and the sickie bugs are here and I want Spring MORE than ever!!!!!!

I will do a quick 3 month catch up in pics!



Cutest "Mickey and Minnie"


Thanksgiving with Friends this year!  My friend Johanna and I kicked off the Christmas season downtown for the "Christmas Carol" musical production!


Christmas is "Served"


Can't go wrong with Hot Cocoa!


Homemade Salted Caramels (Christmas Staple)


Grandpa and Joey at "Bass Pro"

Ho Ho HO


Colorado Christmas!  Super fun!  


This just did NOT work!


Special present from Grandma and Grandpa!


How to run and keep the kids occupied and embrace the weather!


Ready to sled with Mom!



Started her first Ballet and Tap class!


I'm kind of "In LOVE" with her dance clothes!


Free time!

Running

I have managed to keep about 30-35 mpw.  I registered for a half in April!  Will post more about my training in future posts.

Merry "October, November and December"!!!