What a great day...

What a great day! You might be wondering how I can say that when its only 6:30 in the morning. I'll get to that in a second but first let me tell you about my run Wednesday....

Ugh! That's how I feel about my run Wednesday. I planned on running outside again after the kids went to bed but it was such a long day nothing seemed to be going right and by the time I got the kids in bed it was already dark and I do not like running in the dark by myself. So I got on the mil and I just wasn't even in the mood. It really seemed like the longest workout of my life (yes I know I'm dramatic) So I only did 33 minutes (instead of 40) and went 2.11 miles (avg. pace 15:38 mile) Much slower pace than I have been doing. So Ugh!

Now to get to today :)
So Josh and I leave for Colombia in just a few hours! You might think I'm crazy to get up and go run but I was awake anyway (full of excitement) So why not get up get my last run in and spend some time talking to God preparing for the trip.
The weather was perfect,

I was in a great mood, and my mind was focused on God instead on the run.
I have been having so many insecurities, fears, anxiety, doubts, (etc.) about this trip and I was able to lay it all out to God. I feel like such a weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I am completely ready to get on the plane to Colombia.
The run was great because I wasn't watching the clock and wasn't so focused on my run. I did a different route and was able to avoid the majority of the hills (only one uphill run this time) I finished at 37 minutes 2.54 miles (avg. pace 14:33 mile)

My pace is getting quicker every time so I am improving which is very encouraging.

This is what I saw as I finished my run and I really felt like singing "This is the day that the Lord as made"
So I did....in my head and I bet I gave some people a really good laugh because I was bobbing my head side to side like a little school girl and if I hadn't been holding my phone I probably would have been clapping :)

So yea "What a great day" I know today is going to be great because God is in control.

If you think about it please be praying for our trip and our team
*Mike
*Wayne
*Chad
*Matt
*Julie
*Mike
*Carolyn
*Karen
*Rick
*Teresa
*Josh
*and myself

You can keep up with our trip while we are gone by following this blog

http://www.orphanos.org/blog/posts/bellevue-team-to-colombia

Can't wait to tell you about the trip when I return

Goals and Motivation

Saturday morning I got up at 6:45 to get my run in 1. before the heat set in and 2. before my family got up.
I left having no idea what route to take and no idea how far I'd go.
My route ended up looking like this...

I started by going straight down Dove Hollow. It's the "older" part of the neighborhood so the trees are large and offer amazing shade but it was very hill-y. It also wasn't long enough so I ended up going down Cordova Club Dr. This is a newer subdivision and was very flat but had barely any shade. The wind was getting it Saturday morning and was great during the first half of my run. But when I turned around on Cordova Club to head home it was nailing me in the face, like take your breath away kind of wind. Not a great way to end a run. But I finished and went 2.24 Miles in 34 minutes.
I thought Cordova Club Dr was going to be a better option for my route because I could run to my half way point and then turn around and also it was flatter so that's the route I planned on taking on my next run.
I was really looking forward to Monday's run with the girls of Women Run/walk of Memphis but Monday came and Memphis was under a heat advisory with the heat index of 111 so the coaches made the call to cancel the training that night and encouraged everybody to run on their own either on a treadmill or after 8:00pm.
I decided to run outside. I got the older kids in the bed, handed Eli off to Josh and headed out the door.
When I first started it felt pretty cool out with the sun setting. I went with the Cordova Club Dr route with the expectation that it was less hill-y

It wasn't long after I reached the furthest point I went on Saturday that I started going down hill. It was great going down hill. I had a great pace and was feeling good. But I also knew that on my way back I was going to have to go up the hill (duh!) and I was going to be tired. The hill wasn't really big but boy was it long. And now the heat was starting to kick in. This week we are running 2 minutes/walking 3 minutes (6) times instead of 5. That last run was a killer going up that hill. But I didn't stop and still managed to keep my average pace quicker than Saturday. Yay for improvement. So I finished that run in 39 minutes and went 2.62 miles.

So a few goals that I've made to help with motivation

1. Run the 5K graduation on September 16th (52 Days away). My goal for it is to just run the entire thing. I don't care about my time I just want to run without stopping. (I hope that goal isn't too far out of reach, we will see)

2. Run the Color Run 5K (Sept 13th) in 30 minutes or less. This is a BIG goal of mine. I really hope it's attainable. That means I have to get my pace up to a 10 minutes mile (6mph) I've got a lot of work to do to achieve this goal.

3. And I have weight loss goals as well. I don't really have a date of when I want to lose by but I know I want to lose 30-40lbs. Really big goal and it's really the reason I started running in the first place.

So that's where I am and where I want to be. Help keep me motivated ladies! :)

Homework day 2

Just finished my run at home.....
and now I remember why it was so hard for me to work out at home! I spent almost as much time off the mil as I did on. Three kids require a lot of attention especially when one of them is 4 months old.
I never stopped a run to get off but I did get off multiple times during my walks. I've said it before but its worth repeating, I hate having to stop in the middle of a work out. My 30 minute work out turned in to 50 minutes and my heart rate was all over the place.
Friday I might try to run outside after the hubs gets home so the only thing I have to worry about is running

I'm really looking forward to Eli being on a more predictable routine so that I can start getting up before the kids and get my quite time and exercise in. Right now he wakes up anytime between 4:00 and 7:00 to eat so that doesn't really give me an opportunity to have an hour to an hour and a half to myself.

On a completely different note Josh and I are leaving for a mission trip to Colombia in 10 days! We are super excited. I can't wait to see what God is going to do while we are down there.
When we get back I plan on starting a cardio/strength workout to go along with my running. We will see how that goes...

Anywho, Today's running was 37 minutes 2.30 miles

Long Hiatus

Well I'm finally back at it after my very long hiatus.
I took all of your sweet advice and took a break to recover and then had a hard time starting back up again.
After the encouragement of some sweet friends I joined the running group Women Run/Walk of Memphis
It's a 10 week training program and I get to run with my good friend Ashlee. We are at the same pace and were able to stay together the entire time.
This week we did

5 minute warm up

2 minute run
3 minute walk (5x each)

5 minute cool down

Ashlee and I went 2.33 miles.

Not too bad for me not working out for almost 3 months.

The homework every week is to run 2 more times on your own. At the end of the 10 weeks we do a graduation 5K! I'm really excited about it and I think the accountability is exactly what I need.

This is me after the run all hot and sweaty

I know I say this every time but hopefully I will do a better job of keeping up with the blog this go around ;)