Showing posts with label Exercise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Exercise. Show all posts

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Today

 
Well....
 


This was my mantra......


There will be more about the whole process later (as if I would just skip over this HUGE event!). I'm just too tired and wiped to think tonight.... I wanted to post this while I could because it said "today." :) Now to refuel my body with some more 'not good for me' calories and then sleep! and sleep! and sleep!

Until Next Time...
Krista

Saturday, October 26, 2013

One Week Until the Marathon

By this time next week, I hope to be marathon runner..... Today, I basically completed my training.... we just have two teeny tiny runs left.... and after a week off from running due to pleurisy and touch of pneumonia followed by a sinus infection, these two runs 'post-sickness' wore me out and I'm starting to get nervous for the race.... On top of my illness, we had a huge temperature change in our part of the state this week and the race day forecast is looking to be chilly as well. That makes me nervous after being sick.... I went into this training with the mind-set that I don't care if I walk, crawl, run, skip, hop, gallop or slither across the finish line.... I just want to finish. Now after being sick, that is even more of a realistic goal.... I  just want to finish, and not do any permanent damage to my foot/ankle.


As I'm coming into the last week before the race, I've reflected a lot on the last six months.... First--- I'm not sure where the six months have gone. They flew by so quickly! I cannot believe training is over.... Overall, I've really enjoyed the process...I have had a GREAT group to run with. They are always there to push mentally and physically.... There were some days that I wasn't sure I would survive (OR--- TMI--- get to a bathroom fast enough! haha), but I pushed forward and I've made it. My feet are callused and my body is tired, but brain has been shown who is BOSS!  I've spent more money on shoes, the chiropractor and running gear than I ever thought I would.... and I'm about to spend more money on a hotel and race than I even dreamed of....  but I don't regret it one bit. Actually, in my mind, I've made it..... I have already accomplished more than I ever thought possible... I ran 20 miles as part of my training! 18 months ago, I could barely run TWO... and now I've done TWENTY! AND now......I'm about to complete a MARATHON at age 25..Not many people can say they've done that!!!  I want to scream it from the mountain tops... I want to tattoo it across my forehead and honestly....... I want to tell every person that I converse with for the rest of my life (friends and family beware :) haha) I feel so accomplished to even be this far.... I want to let everyone know what I've done......

I'm pretty sure I'm not meant to do another full marathon, but I'm glad that I'm doing this..... (Side note--- someone needs to organize a 20 mile race--- like a 3/4 marathon in my area... THAT would be a good idea! I would enjoy that!) If you have any extra time and extra prayers to throw out this week, please say a few for myself and the gals that I run with--- not only for a safe race, but for safe travels there and back. Thank you!

Until Next Time...
Krista

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Running. Running. and more Running. 26.2 miles

19 months ago.....running wasn't even a thought.
18 months ago.....running was a struggle.
12 months ago......I was three weeks away from my first half marathon and a nervous wreck.
6 months ago.... I was just getting back into running from taking the winter off (bad idea!!)



About seventeen+ weeks ago, running a marathon was a distant (VERY distant) thought..... I had been running with three women from my town, two of which had decided to train for a marathon in November. (One of them was my high school band director and is training for her 13th marathon.... the other has been running for 15 years but just decided to do her first full.) When they asked if I was going to train for it too, my initial thought was to chuckle and make a million excuses why I couldn't or shouldn't do it...

I don't have the time.
I don't have the money.
I have bad feet.
I don't think my fallen arch could do that many miles.
I don't know if I can commit to that.
I don't know if I'm made to do that many miles...

blah.blah.blah.  
(Can you hear the fear in all of those thoughts?)


They kept asking and suggesting it and then about sixteen weeks ago, something clicked.... I was on Pinterest (what else do I do?!?!) and started pinning 26.2 and marathon inspiration.... and then it was like WHY THE HECK WOULD I NOT DO THIS?!??!!? I was going to be training for a half in September and that fit perfectly with the full training....... Why wouldn't I keep going?? I don't have kiddos at home yet to focus on and I have the group to train with. I would be stupid to not at least TRY! (Remember my post a year ago about why running a half marathon was such a big deal... well, nothing big has happened year in 2013, so a full marathon fit right into my plans.... 26 miles before age 26 became my mantra.)

So.... the training began...
We are running four days a week and have hit mileage as high as 35 miles in a week. Some days have been great and I felt that I could have gone longer and others were awful. Heat, food, hydration, stress--- they all affect your run, and can sometimes ruin it.....but I have survived and kept going. I wasn't about to give up!

Now we are LESS THAN three weeks from Marathon Day and in taper. I did 20 miles on Friday with the other newbie in the group and we survived. Twenty miles in heat, with hills and little motivation due to exhaustion (mentally and physically)......and we still completed and survived! What wasn't even a possibility five months ago is a reality now...

Here are some of my favorite marathon pins from that night....














Now it's time to rest, hydrate, eat right and get my head back in the game. I'm so ready for this to be over but I know it's going to be an amazing experience to remember for a lifetime. I'm just ready to sleep in on Saturdays, not plan my week around my runs and to see my husband a little more often in the evenings :)


You never know what idea tomorrow will bring and how your mind will change. If you would have told me a year ago that I would be in marathon taper now, I would have laughed in your face..... 

A goal without a plan is just a wish....
Until Next Time...
 Krista






Sunday, October 13, 2013

Update! Update! Update!

Well hello again......... I feel as if I've fallen off the face of the blogging world..... Here's a quick recap of the last six months (YIKES! That may be --sadly-- a new record for time before posts)



In April....

We spent a weekend in Louisville for their big festival.
The fireworks are simply amazing and vibrate your insides!!!
We did the festival, fireworks and then Fourth Street in the freezing cold!





In May...

 We spent Mother's Day at our momma's favorite--- Texas Roadhouse.
Karter ate on our side of the giant booth,
so of course we had to get a picture with him :)
This was the first tough holiday to deal with since losing Grandma.
That "Grandma" section of the cards really got me.








I was to start a maternity leave with only three weeks of school left,
but I unexpectedly got a phone call (in mid-March) to start six weeks prior to that.
I jumped into a classroom that I had only spent three hours in that year
for a teacher that I hadn't yet had the chance to meet with about her routines and expectations...
So it was a bit crazy!

On the last day of school, my family took off after everyone got home from work to get a hotel room 
before our early morning flight to Colorado to see my brother. 
(Talk about a stressful last week of school--- 
assessments, report cards, field trips, packing for vacation,
cleaning and packing up a classroom AND I lost my voice completely!)


Cam nor Kart had ever flown before, 
so it was exciting to get to watch their excitement and nervousness!






When we landed in CO, we met up with  my brother, 
got our rental car and headed to the Royal Gorge.
My mom had read about it and got us all interested in it too.
It was once the highest suspension bridge in the world!!

The place was amazing!!!




.
Cam was kind enough to carry my purse, but had to joke around about it.
*Hand on the hip




 We are SO thankful that we went because two weeks later, most of the park burned to the ground.
The bridge is still standing but pretty much everything else was a total loss.

Source
We also went through most of the places that were destroyed by the flood last month. 
So sad.


My brother took us to some amazing restaurants...
Everything we ate on the trip was AMAZING.


 This is The Sink-- a restaurant where Robert Redford once worked.
 The ceilings are a bit low.

 Outdoor breakfast.



Chad took some of us for a trail ride.
The mommas and Karter didn't join.

I was very nervous about this adventure because Cam and I were both in a wedding just days after getting back home. I was scared to death about cuts, scrapes, broken bones, bruises, etc.
But we survived!


Speaking of the wedding--- I made some fashion faux pas for the sake of tan lines on this trip!


The boys got haircuts at Floyd's Barbershop.
What a neat place!




We watched the Bolder Boulder. 
I had wanted to run it, but wasn't trained for it--- especially not in high altitude .

During the run, my dad went walking up the sidewalk, which isn't unlike him.
He saw a gap in the runners and started walking down the route holding his drink and waving!
It was hilarious!!


We spent time playing around with Kart.


We went up into Rocky Mountain National Park again.
What a beautiful place!



 This was at the highest elevation that we could go!

We also stopped at the Stanley Hotel (The Shining and Dumb and Dumber) for Cam.
It was really neat.




In June....

Cam and I had the pleasure of being in a wedding for two dear friends...












In July....

My sister sent a text one morning that she was in labor more than a week early. 
I started getting ready for the day and packing up my things that I would want. 
Shortly after, she sent another text that they were headed to the hospital already. 
Within thirty minutes of walking through the front door, Kenna was born.
 The teeny tiny thing weighed only 6lb 1oz and was jaundice
so she spent a week and a half in the hospital.




 Uncle Cam came down the flu the day she was born (I ended up sleeping at my parents' for a few days!) so it was almost two weeks before we felt it was safe for him to see her.





She's now a chunky little thing with a great big brother!



In August....
My brother came home.
We sealed our parents' deck.
 Took a family photo.
First one without Grandma :(


Cam and I met up with friends for dinner.
 We attend some festivals...


And we spent time with family



In September....
 I ran a second half marathon...

 
 And attended some more festivals....
spent more time with family and friends...
 and started a bunch of home projects...




I've painted doors and trim
Stained our bathroom vanity and medicine cabinet
Attempted board and batten
Spray painted our door handles....
 

And in the middle of all of that--- 
I got a call on a Sunday evening to start a medical leave the next morning.
I was going to be in a classroom and school that I had never stepped foot it.
I was very nervous but everyone was so great and accommodating.
I soon felt right at home.
But speaking of home--- I let our home projects take the back burner 
and now I have so many unfinished projects to complete.



In addition to everything else in the last six months,
 I have fully trained for a full marathon..
Yes. You read that correctly.
Full marathon. 





I just finished that medical leave and also my tough weeks of marathon training, 
so I'm in taper and back to working day-to-day....
 Which means that it's time to find the door knob screws that I lost,
hunt for the door jam plates that have to be here somewhere,
put the poly coat on our vanity,
finish the paint job on our doors,
figure out what to do with the board and batten that I hate because my boards are too thick 
(anyone able to plane my boards to half their thickness?)
and put away all of the clutter that has accumulated in the last month or two.


I cannot believe how tired and lazy marathon training has made me. 
Ok....let's be honest--- I've never been a good house keeper, but this is to its extreme.
It's even embarrassing ME! haha 
There have been days that it's all I can do it to get a shower in after a full work day
followed by an eight mile run. 
I am exhausted but amazed that this is really happening.

I'm three weeks away from Marathon Day
and ready to have some time back to finish this never ending to-do list.


Until Next Time...
Krista