Marathoning for Miracles

I finished a marathon! Well, sort of. I ran in a marathon relay race as the second leg (6 miles) and then our whole team crossed the finish line together, which was really cool!

Prior to the race, the farthest I had ever run was 4.5 miles. That was several weeks earlier and I only ran twice in the last 3 weeks before the race. The cold weather, rain and darkness of Oregon fall had completely destroyed my motivation.

The day before the race, Jacinda and I drove the entire course of the marathon, which initially intimidated us both, but turned out to be a great idea. The race took us out to the boonies and much of our time running was out on dirt roads south of Abilene where the cows and cactus reside. A few people took the wrong turn and did the wrong route, so we were happy we knew what turns to take because of mapping it out the previous day. (There were also arrows and signs and people to help direct, so it really does puzzle me as to how they got lost?)

Jenise ran the first leg of the relay which was 5 miles. Quick shout-out to Southwest Airlines, Jenise's employer and the friendly people who carried me to TX and back. If you are flying any other airline, you are wrong :) Jenise ran mostly through Abilene neighborhoods and down one very long dirt road.

She tagged off with me and sent me around the Abilene airport on a dirt/gravel road that was a little bit slippery (with all the little rocks) and a whole lot dusty (with cars driving past us at ridiculous speeds). My plan was to run 2 miles, stop at a water station and then walk for a couple minutes, before running 2 more miles and repeating the process. I ran the first 2 miles and didn't have a water station because I just passed 2 at the starting line and the 1 mile mark. So, I decided to keep going and stop at the water station around mile 3. When I arrived, I realized I wanted to try to run through while drinking the cup of water and throw it down when I was finished because it seemed like a hard core runner thing to do. So, I kept running past mile 3 and was still feeling really good! As in, I didn't even want to stop and wasn't really out of breath.

About mile 4 I realized, "Hey! I could run this whole thing!" So I decided to just keep going since I'd already made it that far. The last mile was difficult because I was getting winded a strong wind picked up and was blowing in my face, but the perfect song came on and I picked up the pace while jamming to "Body Moving", quite possibly the best workout song EVER!

I have never said this about running before, but it was really fun! The flat roads of Texas were awesome after running on hills in Oregon. I think that is why I was able to run so much farther than I expected--I didn't realize just how much a difference it would make to be on level ground.

Jacinda and Jenise's cousin were supposed to run with us, but she had sick babies and wasn't able to make it. Luckily, Jacob (Evan has running connections in Abilene--we don't know him at all) was able to step in at the last minute. He is a marathoner, so 8 miles was no big deal for him at all.


Jacob, Jacinda, me and Jenise

We definitely didn't win the relay, but we also didn't get last, so we were pretty happy with being right in the middle!

Texas Weekend

This past weekend I went to Abilene, TX to run in a marathon relay race and see some of my college friends. It was so much fun! Even the running was fun, which is something I have never said before! More on the race in my next blog...

I read Diary of a Wimpy Kid while in Texas and really enjoyed it! There were multiple times that I laughed out loud while reading it. I saw on the inside cover that there are several other books in the series, so I plan to read those and see the movie soon.

Thanksgiving is this month and I am so excited for it! Partly because I will get to go home for the holiday and partly because it is my favorite holiday all year! Only 13 days of work left and then I get to fly to NM/TX. I actually just looked at a calendar and realized I get a 4 day work week this week and next-yay!!

My last day in Lubbock I woke up 15 minutes before we had to leave, didn't shower, had no makeup on, threw on a T-shirt and jeans and headed out the door...felt just like I was back in college! :) I realized recently that people in the South dress up way more than people in Oregon.

It is funny to watch people on a plane when it lands. Some people have that phone out and ready to turn on the millisecond the wheels make contact with the ground. I have even witnessed some who have their finger on the button, as if they have no time to spare to get back in touch with the world!

Running (Part 2)

September 11 was the day of my 5k race and I feel really good about it! It was the fastest time for 3.1 miles that I had run up to that point. The race was at 9 a.m. on a Saturday morning, which wouldn't be too bad except I NEVER run in the morning. I read somewhere that you should try to run about the same time as your race to get your body used to it, but there is just no way I can get my body out of bed in time to run before work. I seriously get out of bed in time to shower and get dressed and get to work a few minutes before 8 and even that that is a struggle most days. I am most definitely a night owl...if only the sun were up longer, I could do my runs about 9-10 p.m. and I'd feel great!

The guy behind me shows how I really feel about running in the morning

Half-way through



Belinda is my friend from church who ran the 10k

Much to my dismay, I still don't really enjoy running. I hate it less than when I started, but it's still something I have to force myself to do most days. My motivation/desire has decreased GREATLY since my 5k race. I'm still currently training for a Marathon Relay in Abilene, Texas on October 30. There will be 4 of us running and I will run the 6 mile leg. I am currently struggling to run 5 miles, so hopefully in the next few weeks I can get to 6 with little or no walking.

Running (Part 1)

This past weekend I read A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller. If you haven't read the book, let me start off by recommending that you do. It's a really easy read, but it's very motivating and inspiring. The book is all about the story of your life and whether you're living a memorable story or one that is meaningless. While I certainly don't feel like my life is meaningless, this book reminded/encouraged me to live my life more fully and spend more time making memories and less time wasting hours of my life away.

One of my favorite quotes from the book reads, "...I've noticed something. I've never walked out of a meaningless movie thinking all movies are meaningless. I only thought the movie I walked out on was meaningless. I wonder, then, if when people say life is meaningless,, what they really mean is their lives are meaningless. I wonder if they've chosen to believe their whole existence is unremarkable, and are projecting their dreary life on the rest of us."

So, running is one of the things that makes my story exciting and memorable for me. This blog has always been about sharing my story, so I want to continue to do that by explaining what the journey of becoming a runner has meant to me.

June 27 was a turning point for me. In Miller's book, he talks about an inciting event, which is where the character makes a decision and essentially, there is no turning back from this point. I went running for the first day of the Couch to 5K plan that day. I knew I had tried running many times in the past couple years and I never lasted more than a week or two. I always got tired of it or got busy and just forgot about it. I knew myself well enough to know that I needed motivation and accountability to stick with this.

So, I took several steps to make sure this wouldn't be another week-long fad. First, I downloaded the Couch to 5K app on my phone. I had seen several people on Facebook using this program, so I researched it and decided I would use this program to help me get in shape. Second, I joined at team at my work in the Summer Buds program. It was a wellness program that lasted through the summer and each team was made up of 3 people. Each person set a goal for the summer (mine was to complete a 5k) and we were supposed to check on each other weekly to make sure we were still working towards our goals. Thirdly, I found a 5k race to sign up for, knowing that if I would register and pay for a race, I would be much less likely to back out last minute.

Probably the best motivator for me was that I found a race that supported a cause I felt personally attached to and passionate about. The race was called the Ramble for Recovery and celebrated National Recovery Month, for those recovering from addiction. Participants could run the race in honor or memory of a friend or family member in recovery, so I ran in honor of my older brother, Ty. I told Ty about the race so that it would be an extra incentive for me to persevere.

Rachel's Trip to Oregon

I had such a great time with Rachel this past week! Here are some pictures of our trips to the coast (Bandon, OR) and to Portland for the weekend.

I really love this picture of Rachel and baby Beckham in her belly :)

It was really foggy on the beach, but it was still fun to play in the water and the sand.

Saturday Market is one of the best things--so much to see and eat and do!

Waiting for the MAX for one hour...ugh. Poor 7 months pregnant Rachel--not a great situation.

We got this picture taken in Powell's...notice our names on the marquee board. It's not a very good picture of either one of us, but at least we got cool books!

Many more pictures can be found on my Facebook page.

AND now on to some other random thoughts...

Kory and I watched the Dark Knight last night. I really love that movie! When the movie first came out, there were several people who told me that this was my dopple-danger. Any thoughts? It's always hard to tell if someone looks like yourself, I think. I guess I can see a little resemblance...

My parents will arrive on Thursday and I'm very ready for them to be here! We'll be making lots of fun trips to the coast, the Redwoods, Crater Lake, South Umpqua waterfalls and hopefully there will be some time at the river in there also. It's supposed to cool down quite a bit the end of this week, so hopefully they'll get to experience some beautiful Oregon weather.

It has been brought to my attention that a few people I know have been in Oregon recently and not called me. This practice is unacceptable!! :) For reals though, if you're anywhere near me, please let me know. I'm willing to make a trip and go out of my way to see friends/family if at all possible.

Running is still going really well. I'm currently going 2.5 miles...and as I type that, I have a hard time believing I can really run that far. Granted, some parts of the run are at a snail's pace and I'm barely moving my feet going up those hills, but I am moving and that is the important part!

I have a picture in my cubicle of Rynn, Kecia, Sara and I eating in Rosa's right before I left to move to Oregon. That picture is awesome, but it has some food/drink on the table, and it taunts me every time I look at it. As we speak, I am craving some Rosa's more than life itself. Oh I want it so badly! I know there is one in California, and some times I consider driving the 8 hours or whatever it is to taste that queso.

Friends, Fall and Fatties

Rachel will be in Myrtle Creek this evening and I'm VERY excited to see her!! I will take off work Friday so we can spend the day on the coast and then we'll head to Portland for the weekend.

It's starting to get dark earlier at night and I know that Fall will be here before I know it. I'm actually pretty excited for Fall weather and football and rain and cool temperatures, but this was SUCH a short summer. It rained until the middle of June, so it feels like summer just barely started and now it's already going to be over soon.

I was telling one of my co-workers about my running plans and she said, "Oh great! If you're running that much you're going to get skinny!" So you're saying I'm currently NOT skinny? Hmm...she's obviously trying to give me a complex.

Brynn made an excellent comment about my last post. I think she is absolutely right that God is present in the details and that it takes lots of little moments to add up to a big moment in life. I think God cares about the details of my life, but I think God is working for His for the good of man and for His glory. I don't think God's concern for the details includes my selfish/materialistic wants and needs. If I pray that I'll win my basketball game and the other team prays they will win, then who does God side with? I think God can certainly give and take away health, injury, talent and many other things that would affect the outcome of the game, but I don't think God is going to move the ball in or out of the hoop based on my prayers/wishes. I think we've made God out to be a genie in a bottle where I can wish/pray for anything I want and He'll give it to me.
I believe God has given us free will and that He allows us to make choices. Certainly He is involved in our life and He cares about the little choices I make each day. Those little choices I make are what determines my character and makes me the person I am today. So, Brynn, I hope I understand what you were saying and if I do, then I absolutely agree with you! I should have made myself more clear in that last post. You gave me a great reminder that God knows the number of hairs on my head and he dresses the lilies of the field. He is not a God too big for our little mundane human lives!

Vacation!

We spent several days in Washington this past week at Creation Fest for our summer vacay. It was really fun and relaxing, which was just what we needed.


Yes, that's Kory's gum hanging out of his mouth...

David Crowder is just AWESOME--I love him!

Switchfoot was INCREDIBLE! They definitely put on the best show...I'm a big fan.

Thursday was a day that exemplifies my idea of vacation. We slept until about 8:45, got up and ate breakfast and were back in the tent napping by 10 :) After napping for a couple hours, we ate a picnic lunch and headed into a nearby town to spend the afternoon shopping at REI and Target. Heaven for each of us! We went back to camp that evening and I had a turkey leg for the first time. It was incredible! Wow, it was so yummy...I want another one right now! That night we saw Hillsong and Newsboys in concert. Newsboys was very nostalgic for us both and we loved hearing old songs from them and DC Talk.

Friday we spent a good portion of the day reading our books and enjoying 75 degree weather. We went to a youth leader seminar but I didn't really feel like it was worth my time. This guy is supposed to be one of the leading "experts" on youth ministry and I literally heard everything he said in my very first speech class as a freshman in college. So...maybe I am an expert too! Friday's concerts included KJ52, Matthew West, Thousand Foot Krutch and Toby Mac. Quite an excellent day of music! Toby Mac was very high energy and goofy. I definitely had the most fun at his show.

Beautiful view of Mt. Rainier from our tent

Sunday, after we got home, I spent pretty much ALL day watching Veronica Mars. I'm totally hooked on this show now! There are 6 discs in the first season and I finished 4 of them on Sunday :) I really love Kristen Bell and I can't believe I've never heard of this show. It's a real gem!

One of our youth group girls gave me The Shack a couple weeks ago and I started reading it while we were camping. I really like it but was quite confused because the entire foreword explains how it's a true story and then about half-way through reading it, I talked to Kory about it and found out it was a fiction book. I am sure the cover of the book probably tells you that, but this copy of the book was partially eaten by her dog, so the front cover is almost all gone and some of the pages are a bit gnawed on...so I didn't realize this was all made up. After reading the first half of it under the impression that it was a true account, I had a hard time finishing the book. I still like it, but I have to allow some time for my mind to adjust to this fiction story before I finish it. I think I only have about 50 more pages at this point, so I'm pretty close to the end now.

I am on Week 5 of my running program and still going strong so that is encouraging! It's certainly challenging and I never feel like it's too easy, but I always feel like I am making progress and want to keep going. I just got the paperwork to sign up for my first 5K which is scheduled for Saturday, September 11. That's only 6 1/2 weeks away and it seems pretty daunting at the time, but I will continue to take it one day at a time.

And now we're back to the routine of every day life! Church health team meeting Monday night, youth group Wednesday night, followed by a meeting with a financial advisor, small group Thursday night, Myrtle Creek Summer Festival this weekend and trying to fit in a full-time job somewhere in between :)

July Fun!

This month is going to be filled with lots of outdoor fun! I have never been more excited to see sun and warm weather...winter seemed to last forever.

We started meeting with our small group a couple weeks ago and it has been awesome! I love our group and really enjoy our time together each week. We meet on Thursday nights at my apt and we are currently studying the book of Romans. There have been 7 or 8 people coming each week which has been a great group size.

We went kayaking on Saturday and it was SO much fun! We both loved it! Kory got dumped out of his kayak as he went into some small rapids and I almost fell out of mine laughing at him. It didn't take long until I was falling out into the water though...I was about to run into Kory as he was standing in the water and I tried to lean away so I wouldn't hit him and I dove into the chilly water.

I am currently doing a running program called Couch to 5K. It is designed to help you go from not working out at all to running a 5K in 9 weeks. I have completed week one of the program and one day of week two. I do work out occasionally so I am doing pretty well so far. We have a Summer wellness program at work called Summer Buds that starts this week. You form teams of three and encourage each other to complete the wellness goals you each set. My goal is to complete a 5k by the time the program ends in mid-September. So I found a 5k in September in Roseburg (the city where I work) that is for recovering addicts and their family/friends. I plan to run in that to celebrate my older brothers ongoing recovery.

So I know that a 5k (3 miles) isn't super far, but it is much farther than I can currently run and it is a good start for me. I am Definitely not a morning person, so I run in the evenings. I am currently running 3 times a week and it is going great so far.

Our church is going white water rafting this next weekend so I really hope the water warms up by then. It is Getting up into the 80s now, which feels great since it hasn't been this warm in about 7 or 8 months.

I get so behind on laundry and dishes and keeping my apartment clean and I live by myself so I can't even imagine how people take care of a whole family. Goodness gracious it makes me tired just thinking about it! Hopefully I can take advantage of this day off work and get caught up on all these not-so-fun chores.

Random Updates

A co-worker told me today that I am the most talented person he knew. I was really flattered until he told me that it was because I was walking down the stairs in high heels, taking a drink with one hand and texting with the other.

I have been running for two days in a row now, which is a big deal for me. If I run tonight and make it 3 days, we'll be approaching world record status in my book. I always get super motivated and run for a day or two and it quickly fades. I'm not trying to become a marathon runner by any means, but I would like to be in better shape (I feel like walking up my stairs shouldn't make me out of breath!) and be healthier. It's definitely not because I enjoy running. I really hate running actually...I'd much rather ride a bike, so I need to check into buying one of those. I have gone running at 9:00 p.m. both nights because it is still light outside and really cool! The weather has been really nice the past couple days so I'm hoping it's an indication that summer weather is on the way!

Today I decided to wear a pair of shoes I almost never wear to work because they really hurt my feet after wearing them all day. The heel is much higher than I typically wear, but I knew I got to be at my desk for at least 4 of the 8 hours today, so I thought I could make it just fine. Well, of course, that didn't happen...I should know better than to plan for that. One of my co-workers didn't come in today so I was covering for her and ended up on my feet for most of the day. Yikes--my feet and calves are burning!! Back to flats for me tomorrow...I'm just not a heels type of girl.

Evan and his youth group will arrive this Saturday and be here for a full week! I am SO excited to see them and get to spend the week with them. We'll be spending a couple days on the coast for a weekend retreat and the camp we're staying at looks awesome!

I have quite a few pictures I need to post of recent events (high school graduations, painting the youth room, ministry fair, etc.) but I always forget that when I'm at home and have my camera cord. Hopefully I can remember to upload those soon.

Exercising, Anniversaries and Football!

Like most people, I'm on this "getting in better shape kick" and I went running this weekend. Kory and I went together on Saturday, but he kicked my tail. His long legs make him much faster than me, in addition to the fact that I am WAY out of shape and couldn't make it very far at all. I went running again yesterday afternoon to try and get this habit going. I did MUCH better, but of course was by myself so no one could see that.

After running two days in a row, doing lunges and crunches in my living room and wearing high heels yesterday, my legs are KILLING me! I'm so sore and I have shin splints, which are extremely painful! Now I really want to keep running so I can work the soreness out and get in shape. The main problem is that it's always dark outside my work hours. I might get Kory to run with me tonight so it won't be so scary. Otherwise, I might just run laps around our apartment parking lot! haha He can just look out the window every once in a while to make sure I'm still going and haven't been abducted. (If you don't know, I'm really scared of the dark. Like a little kid but maybe worse. I hate it, even in my apartment when I'm alone...because how do I know I'm really alone??)

I was thinking today that if I am this sore after working out for 20-30 min for 2 days, I can't even begin to imagine how sore the people on The Biggest Loser are when the show first starts!! Those workouts are crazy intense--I bet they can hardly move and then they have to keep working out so hard-core! Plus they have so much weight to carry around and might not have worked out for years and years. I'm so impressed by them!

Last night, Kory and I went to dinner for our 2 year dating anniversary. There is a casino about 20 minutes from where we live and they have a really awesome, fancy restaurant we'd never been to before. The food was delicious!! It's pretty pricey, but the atmosphere and delicious food make it well worth it. We were the only people in the place too so we got great service and lots of attention! Tonight we're going back to the casino to see a comedian. We wanted to do dinner and a show on the same night, but the restaurant is only open on weekends and the comedian is only on Mondays, so we're having an extended celebration. We were SO full after dinner that we had no room for dessert last night. We'll go back and have dessert tonight before going to the show.

I did quite a bit of cooking this weekend. On Saturday, I got this wave of ambition and wanted to cook, so I have to take advantage of it when that feeling comes--it's not very often! I made Fettuccine Alfredo, African Peanut Soup and Pot Roast. The soup is for a staff luncheon at work that I'm co-hosting tomorrow. We have a staff luncheon each month and this month our theme is "New Year, New Recipes". Everyone is bringing a dish they have never made before, so this could be really fun or quite a disaster! haha The soup turned out well, but the peanut butter taste just overpowers everything else. It's still good, but I just wish you could taste the other stuff more and not just the peanut butter.

I hope that I won't have to cook this week because I can just reheat all the food that I have already cooked. I made the Pot Roast in the crock pot and it was delicious! It's only the second time I've used the crock pot, but I love it! When we got home from church Sunday and could smell the roast cooking, it was an awesome moment! Very nostalgic.

We're so excited the Cowboys won!! What a fun game to watch. Kory had some of my soup for dinner, which he claims was drugged, and he was asleep for the entire game--and the game started at 5:00 p.m. here! It was pretty funny though. As soon as he finished the soup, his eyelids were droopy and he was really fighting to stay awake. There aren't a lot of Cowboys fans here, but we can always log onto Facebook and get to share our Cowboys excitement with our Texas friends!