If at first you don't succeed...

Good afternoon! Well as some of you may have noticed, I didn't blog about our long run last week. That's because I wasn't ready to write down another failure. I wanted my next blog to be positive, uplifting and successful but last week's run didn't fit any of those characteristics. We started out attempting our 16 mile run and it was hot and windy and we didn't have enough fluid for the both of us, and I cramped up and had to quit. About 6 miles short. Not good. So I had resolved that I was going to work really hard last week to run exactly what I was suppose to and conquer the 16 again this last weekend. So I ran my 4 miles, then 8 miles, and then 5 miles...took Friday and Saturday off (because Jerod played golf with his brother for his birthday) and we ran last night. It was another chamber of commerce evening and I decided to take my own water with me so I could stay good and hydrated. My frame of mind was completely different from the week before because I had succeed in my training during the week and I knew I had to do this in order to stay mentally healthy until the marathon. The funny thing is, Jerod and I were having disagreements about where to run. I did not want to run in the middle of nowhere again and get stuck having to walk four miles to the nearest public place, and he wasn't sure about running around town because it was hard to mark off exactly 16 miles. But I finally won and we ran around town. Our kids stayed with my parents and they agreed to bring us water when we called and said we needed it. (That was another thing that was different...it was the first time we had taken a phone with us on a long run.) So at mile 10 they brought us water and re-marked our last 6 miles for us because we were bored running around and around the city park. I was feeling really good at mile 10 and could tell that I was going to complete this challenge. I was going to succeed! I also was running longer than I had since our 13 mile run a month ago and my legs were feeling okay. Tired, yes, but not cramping or hurting. It was so helpful to have my parents bring us fresh water and to have my daughter hang out the car window saying, "I love you mommy! Good job mommy!" and ask for kisses. That may have been just the mental energy I needed to finish. Remember me saying this was a mental game? Well, I need mental energy just like I need physical energy to finish. It makes me so happy that our kids are going to the marathon with us and my mom has agreed to go also. She is so excited for us and we even bought her a bright orange Team World Vision t-shirt to sport around on the airplane ride over there and during the race. Since we are not able to have a normal team setting during our team runs and it's just me and Jerod, I find myself needing more and more of that mental energy and I couldn't ask for it to come from a better place than my kids. I did find however, that during miles 12-15, you begin to become a little delirious. Jerod started acting like he was playing chicken with the oncoming traffic, we had a water fight right there on the side of the road, and one of my favorite songs came on and I started singing as loud as I could. Yes, all while we were running! If us running didn't make people think we were crazy enough, then the nuts running down the road singing and having a water bottle fight sure would have solidified it. But I don't care because after 3 hrs 20 minutes, and 16 miles we were not fighting anymore and nothing can bond two people like accomplishing that challenge together. I'm so proud to be running for Team World Vision, I'm so proud that my kids and mom are coming all that way to support us, I'm so happy that I'm getting to experience all of this with my husband, and I'm so proud to be doing all of it in the name of the Lord! I'm excited!!!! And...the best news of all....I can actually walk today! Have a great one!

Donations, donations....

7 days off training due to helping friends move to Houston + 5 days off for being sick = ONE TOUGH LONG RUN! Let's get down to the meat of the situation. The bad news is...my feet hurt, my calves hurt, I feel like I've been run over and I still have a house to clean before Jaxen's baptism party tomorrow. The good news is...I am back training and meeting my goals. I think getting sick really slowed down my progress but I am determined to continue to make it in Chicago. I am discouraged about one thing though. While we have talked this and shared with people WHY we are putting our bodies and families through this, we have had only 2 people donate to our cause. It makes it really hard to want to keep going when raising money for people in Africa is our reason for doing this and we haven't had many donations. It is going to cost us personally a lot to get to Chicago to run this and I'd really like it if we had more in donations then what we are putting into it to get there. Please...if you are reading this and feel led to donate we would appreciate anything. $5, $10...no amount is to small to help further the kingdom of God! We are officially half way through our training and I think we have proven ourselves to others that we are actually going to do this. Anyway, back to our run today. We actually ran in the morning which hasn't happened in awhile but needs to happen more because it will help us see what we need to change to make it easier on our bodies. There was a funny point during the run...my nose would not quit draining. I was sniffling and snorting through but I begged Jerod to run ahead of me and grab me some napkins or tp out of one of the convience stores coming up so I could blow my nose. He of course looked at me like I was crazy but he loves me enough that he did it for me. I'm sure I looked pretty funny blowing my nose while running down the street! I did walk more (a lot more) during this run but I was determined I was going to finish either way. I'm going to rest tomorrow and get a massage on Monday and get back to our training schedule so next weekends run won't be so hard. It ended up that I did 13.5 miles and Jerod did 15. I finished in 2 hours and 45 minutes which shows that I can still finish the 26 in the right amount of time. Even after being sick. Jerod finished pretty much right behind me and now we are on to the next thing! One more week down, one more week closer, and two people still as dedicated as we were in the beginning. God bless you today!!

Ups and Downs

I am sick. Not the "just not feeling well" kind of sick but the congestion, chest hurts, headache, fever, aches and chills kind of sick. How can one train when they can't breathe? How can I catch up from missing scheduled runs from being in Houston and now being sick? Does every marathon trainee go through this or is this Satan's attempt to bring me down? Maybe, but will I let it? Certainly not!! I will not let this bring me down and I will not let this make me want to give up. I will rest and give my body a chance to heal and get healthy however. I think running right now would only further delay my recovery. So please pray for me now that I recover quickly and get back to my training asap!! Now if you excuse me, I'm going to eat some soup that my amazing hubby fixed for me and take a nap. :)