breathing deeply

I ran this afternoon with Denise. She started running about a year and four months ago - has completely followed the Jeff Galloway interval training program and ran 3 half marathons this past year with me and is now training to run her first full marathon in February. I say all of that to tell you that she ran her first 20 miles this past week. And she is doing fantastic. It's kind of humbling and irritating simultaneously. So she ran 6 miles on Tuesday and wanted to do about 4 miles with me to day.
Well, it was not my best run - we ran 2/1's (2 minutes running, 1 minute walking) at about a 11 minute pace. Which is about what I would run right now if I were doing a race. But I made it and I LOVE how my body feels right now. I am tired. A bit drained and it's amazing! I wish I could explain it better but if you've been there then you know what I mean.
I am 2 weeks away from my surgery and I am determined to feel this a couple more times before that day.

Running...

I woke up this morning right before dad knocked on my door to let me know that the weather was in the 40's and that it might rain all morning. (I think he was thinking about not running, but don't tell him that). Anyways, we got dressed, drank some accelerade(dad's new favorite energy drink), got our extra layers on...I got my ipod all hooked up and we were off.

This is our third year to run the Gennesaret's 4-mile for the Homeless on Thanksgiving.
Gennesaret is an all-volunteer nonprofit that shelters homeless families and feeds the poor in Akron, Ohio since 1986. This is their yearly fundraiser - in it's 16th year and about 1500 runners participated last year! I think it is a great event!

The first year we ran, it was myself, dad and our friend Brandon. And that was the year we got to run in a blizzard and I was covered with ice by the time we finished. That was a crazy morning!

Last year, my sister,Julia, and her husband, some of his family and her friend Kate joined us and it couldn't have been better weather for a run.

Today - all the people from last year were there plus my cousin Ana and about 6 more family members and friends. We stood outside for about 20 minutes trying to stay warm as it sprinkled on us off and on. At 9:00 a.m. we immediately separated and I started off behind most everyone else with a nice slow jog. I was going to run my intervals today, a 5 minute run with a 1 minute walk, but once I started running I decided to just keep running. I felt pretty good throughout the run. I love the hills - I don't know if it's cause of all the hiking but I get energized when I run up hills and then I s-l-o-w down going down the hills...I am so cautious about how and where my foot is striking the ground that anyone I might have passed on the way up, can pass me easily on the other side. Both of my feet held up pretty well till I got to mile 3 and then they both ached a bit. I was also feeling a little hungry and weak because I came up the last big hill but I was quickly distracted from the pain when I passed Ana and happened to look over and see her. I said, "Hi kiddo", and asked her how she was doing. She had said she almost threw up after coming up the last big hill but that she was feeling better. I offered her some of my "Fulfill" which is Walmart's version of Propel and then she asked if she could finish the run with me. So we chatted as we came around the last corner and could see the time counting down the minutes. So we picked up our pace and I felt great. With "Living on a Prayer" playing through my ipod, we finished our 4 mile race together. This was Ana's first race ever and my second one since my right foot surgery 3 months ago.

It wasn't my best time but I am still proud of the run. I also love the tradition of running with my family and with Paul and Julia's friends...

I don't know if I can explain how I feel when I run. But I love it. I love being out there with other people who have both trained and haven't trained. There are people encouraging others and some just want their music to keep them company. But I have learned over the years - that even if I don't feel like I can finish - ever race will end at some time...and all I have to do is take one step at a time and then rest later.

Every Window is open...

Today I woke up at 6:45 a.m. to meet some friends to run the Pensacola Annual Pumpkin 5k...I got there are about 7:30 a.m. and couldn't find anyone that I knew until about 7:55 a.m. But in that time I watched about 400 people mill around and greet each other and just enjoy the most beautiful day. I love watching people in community, that have known each other for years or just met - the awkward "don't have much time to tell you everything, but really want to let you know you matter to me" discussions...

I started running at 8:00 a.m. with about 250 others through our East Hill neighborhood - that has 80 year old houses with porches that overlook the bay. It is a great neighborhood.

Kids as young as six years old were running all around me, I had to be careful to not step on them as they darted right in front of me and then would turn to see if their friend was still near by. I ran behind a father with his 8 year old daughter for the first mile...she held his hand while the ran together, and she would ask, "Can we walk yet?". He asked her to wait till they got to the first water break which was a couple of blocks away - "We can make it", he kept telling her.

I started training over a year ago using the Jeff Galloway method - which basically means that you train and race using intervals. So today, I ran 2 minutes and walked one minute...well, not really, I ran 5 minutes, walked a minute, then 2, then 1, then 5, then 1...etc. I was pretty excited to be out there again. The last race I ran in was on my birthday in May while visiting my family in Ohio. My foot held up amazingly well through the entire race - and I finished with about 11 pre-teens, that I had passed a couple of times throughout the last mile, racing to beat their friends.

After eating a couple of oranges and cheering some other runners and walkers on...I decided to head to bagelheads for breakfast.

The first thing I did in my car is call my parents to let them know that I was able to get out there again...to invite them to celebrate with me.

It's a good day.

for the love...

Well, I ran my 2nd 1/2 Marathon last Saturday in Nashville, TN. I LOVED it!!! I did it in 2 hours and 15 minutes...which was 10 minutes faster than last year. It was also a great weekend for me to see people that I haven't seen since I left Nashville in December.
Then I left 2 days later to go to NYC for the 2nd time in my life - about 22 years after the first time...and I loved NYC. I ran 3 times in Central Park and walked all over the place...I was actually there to go to a Worship Conference with some people that I work with - but we all agreed to take advantage of as much as possible while we were there. So I went to Ground Zero, Wall Street, St. Anthony's Cathedral, FDR Building, Staten Island(On a ferry), walked from Brooklin across the Brooklin Bridge to Manhatten, China Town, Little Italy, Went to the top of the Empire State Building...Times Square, and I am sure much more!!! We saw "On Golden Pond" with James Earl Jones, "Spamalot" with David Hyde Pierce and Hank Azaria, "The Lion King" and "Altar Boyz". I spent a lot of time trying to soak it all in...it's hard to explain but I feel like I don't do a good job paying attention to everything that is going on around me.
I also spent some time this past week - really trying to figure out why I do certain things or feel certain ways...who am I really? Why do I have the insecurities that I do? Why am I am so sure my self at other times?
AND now I get to go hiking with my sister in a week...except that I am sick. Sick, sick, sick...either a flu or strep throat or I don't know...I just feel like my eyeballs are going to burn out of my head, my throat hurts SO much, I am coughing and my ears won't unclog...but I am going to work as hard as I can to get better. So let's see how this week turns out.