Meet my new running buddy.

This semester I am living at home for the first time since July 2012. While this seems like it is a bit of a backtrack, there are a lot of pros. Free groceries. Free laundry. And most importantly, my dog. I have a Jack Russell named Jacob Gatsby and I am 96.8% sure he has a worm in his brain. His energy is insane. I have taken him on runs before, but just around our neighborhood.

Today I took him on what started to be a 5K, but at the turnaround time, he wouldn’t turn around and wanted to just keep going, so we ended up doing 4.17 miles.

The great thing about a dog is that I can’t talk him out of extra distance. He will keep going forever if he could, and that gives me extra energy to think that this 20 lb munchkin can keep going after not running any distance for 3 months, why can’t I?

This may all be insane, but it’s quality time with my adorable furry child, and I am really okay with that.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE.

“Winter” running.

Oklahoma is weird.
It is December.
Christmas is in 8 days, and yesterday I ran along our lake in shorts and a tank top. Although it is beautiful weather, and I will probably be complaining when our cold front hits on Saturday, I couldn’t help but wish that it actually felt like Christmas time.

Saturday I am doing my first 8k and it is supposed to be about freezing at the start. I have done many 5k races and am registered for the half marathon in April, but have never done a distance longer than 3.1 miles.
A 10k sounds intimidating right now, so the 8k opportunity was pounced at, plus their shirts are real cute (isn’t that the real reason we all do these races anyways?)
Tomorrow I have 4 miles on the schedule and we are supposed to have beautiful weather once again.
Love hate relationship with that one.

Keep moving forwards.

One of my favorite movies of all time is Meet the Robinsons. Maybe that is my age showing, or just my love of all things Disney, but this movie has a great message to it.

I don’t really know what happened, but after two days of running less then my goal distance (mainly out of boredom) I went into tonight’s with a renewed sense of determination. I strictly told myself that it didn’t care how slow I went, I was getting through that whole run.

I ended up beating my PR for a 5k.

This was strange because I didn’t even feel like I was working during my run. I mean I was tired, but it wasn’t like I had more fatigue even though my pace was higher. I really just sat back into my stride and kept going.

I think those nights are great, especially during training because now I have even more motivation to keep up whatever I am trying to accomplish.

If you have a bad run or two, put it in the past and in the words of Walt Disney,

Keep moving forward.

That’s enough now, snow….

Last Thursday basically the whole eastern part of the country got pummeled by an ice storm and it seems to want to hang out for a while.

We got about 2 inches of sleet and over 6 inches of snow. For Oklahoma, that’s killer. My car wouldn’t move for 3 days.

The real downer of all of this is that it put a dent in my half marathon training. The schedule I am on is a 20 week plan so that I have more than enough time to adapt and two extra weeks before the race, but it hurts the high when I don’t get my Thursday, Saturday, or Sunday run.
Today I actually was able to get out and tried running on the treadmill but it isn’t the same. I think that this is one of the mental tests of training and a wake up call that regardless of how perfectly we try to plan things, they end up messed up anyways.

Our campus was pretty beautiful with the snow though, so as soon as the sidewalks are clear I’m getting my cabin fever butt back out on the actual streets for training even in the freezing weather.
Ecclesiasties 11:4 “If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done.”

Why do we work out?

Today I started the second week of my actual half marathon training plan and I started to wonder why.

Is the number of 13.1 just that enticing that I have to achieve it?

Ever since I was a little kid I have been a very determined spirit- always trying to surpass myself and my limits. I started walking at the age of 9 months and just never really slowed down. I am like that in every subject though. In my mind, I am always capable of doing better and being better than I was the day before. But is that the real reason that I put myself through runs on the daily that most people train weeks for? I don’t think so. 

I think the real reason that I, and most other serious runners for that case, put myself through these is because I love the rush that I get. The awe of the capabilities of God’s most prized creation. We were designed to be capable of so much more than what society has literally rested on. Each and every single run that I accomplish outside is another chance to have time with Him. 

When I started running in 2011, I used it as a form of escape from life’s trials. It was my time to escape and to not worry about assignments or texting someone back. My 45 minutes completely to be selfish. A couple weeks ago I changed my whole mentality. Why do we turn to things like running or venting to friends when we get stressed out? Yes it is scientifically proven that exercise releases endorphins, but it is shown personally in my life that I have such a bigger calm from praying and reading God’s word.

SOOOOO when I came to this conclusion, I started running not with music of T-Swizzle or Miley, but with an audio book of the Bible. While this may not be everyone’s cup of tea, I think that something other than music during runs longer than 30 minutes is beneficial. I don’t know if it is just me or everyone else too, but the running boredom is such a real thing. Not that I don’t love running, but we were not designed to concentrate on the same thing for that long. It is scientifically proven that the human mind is only capable of maintaining concentration for 45 minutes, so you can see where the problem with trying to train for a 2.5 hour race comes in. 

 

Then again, these are just random thoughts during a run. The time reserved to actually clear all of my thoughts out. That also may have been one of my last outside runs for a while. We are supposed to get an ice storm on thursday. Today was absolutely beautiful, so it is insane that this storm is coming! I would love the tips for running while it is really cold!

Looking out

So. After mindlessly scrolling through pointless social media and spending countless hours writing down anything and every experience in my journal I decided upon a blog.

I’ve never really understood why people blog, but I feel that somethings just need to be shared with others, if anything to keep your own mind sane.
So hello. I’m Sarah. I am a 19.8 year old Human Relations major. I really enjoy coffee, and hot tea, and the mountains, and quilts, and my love language comes in the form of puppies and cuddling. Not necessarily together, although those moments are quite lovely. I’m also attempting to train for a half marathon, so you can add insanity to those traits.

This picture pretty much sums up my happy place. I am at peace when I am in nature and completely surrounded by God’s creation, but the beauty of life is that it is all His creation.
If there is anything that you can get out of reading any of these ramblings, I hope that you see that life is the most enjoyable thing in the world and that each day is something to be joyous about….. even if it seems crappy like it seems during dead week and finals week.

Hebrews 10:24-25.
happy december all.

S.