day 279

it's so much easier (well, not sure easier is the right word) having a training buddy.

my roommate and i have been following our training schedule pretty religiously this past month. we started slow, like i said we would, to prevent injury and burnout. over the past three weeks the five minute runs have grown to 2 mile runs. we completed our first official 2 mile run yesterday morning. and while it wasn't my best work ever, (J did do some yelling and i did have some shin pain) we finished in about 20 minutes (those of you who care, that's about 10 minute miles which i'm pretty stoked about!). we usually run or cross-train as soon as i get home from work. which works out well, because i won't last much longer and she's been cooped up studying all day long so getting some fresh air and exercise is good!

i'm still trying to figure out why this run was so much more difficult than those in the past. and i think i might be able to contribute it to the first morning run of this training with six hours of sleep and no breakfast. i really need to remember that in the future. no sleep + no food = bad run :) but anywhoodle, i stretched and iced my one leg - ironically, not the leg i injured before. i believe that when we ran our 1.5 miles last week on the treadmill, that i may have irritated the heck out of my shins so i won't be doing that again, plus running on the treadmill is soooo boring! you run and you run and you run and where do you get - nowhere. i'm going to try and convince j to take a different path this week for our mid week runs so i can people watch (it's actually quite clever, people think that you are only concentrating on how you are possibly gonna keep putting one foot in front of the other and, in reality, you are thinking that they look pretty silly trying to run with their miniature chihuahua chasing after them) love it!

i'm heading to colorado this weekend!!! yay!!! and we shall see how i do going solo in the mountains for the second 2 miler on sunday - eek! the weather channel says high of 50s low of 30s and scattered showers - lungs, get ready to burn baby! (be prepared for an interesting post to come) but it's almost over and the 5K will be done (of course, we still have the marathon on the horizon, but let's not think about that now). on may 29, you will find me and j running around and in minute maid stadium for a good cause - the astro's race for the pennant 5K, supporting the astro's in action foundation http://houston.astros.mlb.com/hou/community/race.jsp

overall, it was a wonderful week! did some good running, some good cross-training, edge, saw the parents, sort of met george and barbara bush, hung out with the bayou group, celebrated my friends birthday, soaked up the sun and saw my sissy!! not too shabby for me :)

with God all things are possible

and... drum roll please..... i get to see this monkey in 20 days!!! yipee!!

day 299

life, it's a crazy ride - i suggest you enjoy it to the fullest...

Happy Easter to you all! how have your past 40 days been? mine have been epic!

the month of march was crazy full of fun, stress, new friends, old friends, hello's and goodbye's. rodeo houston was this month which is always fun! we went to the chili cookoff - yum! and ended up seeing rascal flatts, brad paisley and lady antebellum! although the bull riding, calf roping and bronc busting are the highlights of the rodeo i have to say that the calf scramble and mutton bustin are my favorite events - too stinking funny! if you don't know what mutton bustin is, it's little kids riding sheep across the arena floor till they fall off, they usually make it all of 6 feet :) don't worry parents, they are bundled up and fall all of one foot from off the ground, maybe two.

bayou awakening was also this month. i was blessed to be cookstaff head (although, now i'm not so sure how much of a 'blessing' it really was - more like a stinking lot of work!) where i was responsible for feeding 130 people 6 meals and two snacks over a three day period. it was a HUGE success!! i'm pretty sure i heard somebody say legendary (the good kind)! we served fresh bread, lasagna, burgers, chicken parmesan, chocolate chip cookies, dump cake with ice cream and cupcakes just to name a few. i'm so thankful for my wonderful staff! it would have been an epic fail without them. flour fights, chubby bunny contests (which i lost) and plenty of laughter made the weekend the wonderful experience that it was! of course, after months of preparation i've been at a loss as to what to do with all this free time i've stumbled upon.

one way i filled the time was by celebrating turning 24 years old - whoa! how'd that happen??!?! anywhoodle, i had two cakes, saw a midnight movie and went to the zoo! couldn't have asked for more. great friends, family and good times make it a super win in my book! and then i dove head first into staffing a junior high church retreat that weekend. it was fun :)

you will also be glad to know that all that free time (which actually isn't as much as i first thought) is continuing to be put to good use. drum roll please, training is back on!! i'm starting off slow this go around and making little goals to achieve along the way. so, as of right now i'm training for a 5K race at the end of may. then a 10K at the end of july, a half after that (naturally) and then the full in january 2011. and you will be happy to know that i'm not going it alone this time! my friends jessica, becca and amanda are going to be joining me in this quest for success! (note: it's in writing now my friends - no turning back, hehehe) so what was the agenda for today - running for 5 minutes, outrageous i know! just kidding, it actually seems kinda lame after have run 17 miles but i'm determined to do it right and to prevent injury so wish me luck as i add on minute by minute and mile by mile. and you will be thrilled to know that i can run for 5 minutes! i did it tonight and ended by going up a hill and then a cardio workout after that. i'm going to hurt tomorrow with all this conditioning (side note: there has been more conditioning than what i wrote here, fyi).

with God all things are possible