8 and now 9 miles?

I can hardly believe how much i have improved with my running adventure. Last weekend i ran 8 miles by myself and this weekend (my running partner is back in town, thank goodness!) i ran 9 miles. since i live in oregon it was only fitting that we would eventually run in the pouring rain. no joke, pouring. crazy down pour was happening. my shoes are still sopping wet and i need to go run 3 miles out right now, and yes you guessed it, it is still raining.

i'm becoming a believer that anyone can truly run. my friends joke with me that they never saw me as wanting to run. i joke back and tell them that they are correct. but there is something truly special about working towards a goal that just keeps you excited and motivated. running is not easy for me and will most likely never be. but it is a good thing for me to be doing right now. it gives me confidence to be able to do something that i never thought i could do. i would have thought you were crazy years ago if you told me that i could run a total of 9 miles.

then i look at my own life with my relationship with God. isn't God always telling us that we can accomplish so much in life? yet we constantly say we cannot or are unable to do it. running is teaching me a lot. most of what i am learning i really don't have the words for. i'll keep processing it and add more when i come up with it.

a fun note: yesterday while i was running there was a puddle that looked a lot like the christian fish. that was fun to see and a good reminder that i am running towards the prize. the next one i saw was a whale. i don't have anything good about that except that i think whales are fun. maybe i was going crazy since when i saw the fish and whale i was at the end of my run, haha. :)

peace.

7 miles!

Yesterday, team starin (that's my running partner, erin, and my name combined, hehe) ran 7 miles!!!! holy cow!!!!! we seriously ran all over eugene. it was crazy! we are so proud of ourselves and what we have accomplished so far. i am getting more confident that i can run the 13.1 miles. all i know is that there would be no way i could do this without training. it would be impossible for me especially since i am not a natural runner whatsoever. today i did my recover run of 3 miles and it felt really good. i enjoy the slow, peaceful runs.

my ankle is doing alright. i am so glad that i have a brace on. i'd rather be safe than sorry and injure myself more.

happy monday, everyone. :)

good news!

I bought a ankle brace, ran 3 miles yesterday, and do not feel pain. My ankle still feels a little sore and is a tad bit swollen, but not awful. thank goodness! i'm not going to lie, but i definitely did pray for my ankle. i just couldn't believe what happened on sunday and refused to let it get me down. i'm actually getting to the point where i really enjoy running and was sad to think that running might not be the best thing for me. i really am thankful that i'm going to still be able to run. i even ran at a pretty stinkin' good pace yesterday! :)

but it's good to slow down and take it easy. i find that this little injury is a good reminder of that. so it's time to get off the computer and take a personal break just for myself. peace. :)

injury!

Ouch! UGH! GRRRRRRRR! and a lot of other inappropriate words later...

Yesterday i went for my 3 mile recover run after a 6.4 run saturday. As i was running, i passed a lady who was walking who decided to talk to me. of course i kept running while talking to her and was kinda running sideways/backwards. i didn't want to stop because it would have messed up my rhythm. *side note: stop if talking to someone. just stop. do it. don't think about it. just do it! end side note* and as i was talking to this lady my ankle complete went to the ground. it hurt. badly. ugh. and i was really disappointed and worried that i wouldn't be able to run back home. at that point i already ran 1.5 miles. i stretched out my ankle, said some more inappropriate words, and ran back home. it wasn't awful, but i could tell that my ankle was getting tight. so yesterday, i started to ice it and kept stretching it out. if there is one thing that would make me sad it would be training for this half marathon and then doing something lame causing me not to be able to run anymore. so yesterday i went to bed and this morning i knew it would be interesting. i could barely put pressure on my left foot, i have some swelling, but do not have any massive bruising. i looked at some pictures online of sprained ankles and saw the awful looking bruises on peoples ankles. thankfully, i don't think mine is that bad. but i'm pretty sure icing and a brace might be necessary to continue to run this week. i am praying that it heals quickly and that i can continue to run. honestly, i'm just a little bummed out today about this injury. i know this is something that all runners go through. welcome to the world of running, stacie. :)

but if you have a moment please pray for recovery of my ankle. thanks!

peace. :)

5 miles!

My running partner, Erin, and I ran 5 miles yesterday! I feel like the exclamation point would be a sufficient ending to this whole post because I still can't believe that I actually did it. This is a huge accomplishment for me. I've never ran for a whole hour before without stopping. Shoot, I'm not even sure I've attempting to run for a whole hour. I cannot describe how stinkin' excited I am. It's crazy to think that I am working towards running 13.1 miles. Yes, extremely crazy.

Last night at church we had a small group so we all shared how we are doing. I talked with them about running. To give you an idea how running friendly my church community is here are the numbers. There are a total of 11 people in my church, not including myself. Out of those people, 7 of them run at different levels! CRAZY! All I know is that I respect runners so much more now than I ever did. I knew it was a hard thing, but I didn't realize how hard it is. You really have to push yourself at times. But it feels great after a run, even if the run itself was hard.

Everyday that I run I am in complete awe that my body allows itself to work so hard. I am ever so grateful that I can get out there and do this. I never thought I'd say this, but I am actually starting to enjoy running. That in itself is huge. :)

Oh geez

It's been awhile since I've blogged and I have to say I think it has something to do with my personality. I am definitely the kind of person that gets these brillant ideas, starts them for a little bit, and then I will turn to something else that grabs my attention for awhile. Sheesh, the cycle keeps going and going. So I have done really bad at staying on track with this. I have determined that I will continue this. So here goes nothing!

Next week is the last week of pre-training for me. I am really pumped and scared to death at the same time. I am now just getting pretty comfortable with running 2 or 2.5 miles at a time. We start adding a lot more miles once the real training starts. I always think in the back of my mind if I really will be able to do this. The things I know so far from my running experience is that I really truly believe that anyone can run. It's better when you have other people running with you. I'm not sure I could do this alone. I'm grateful that my knees don't hurt and my body can handle running. I know people that are really uncomfortable when they run. The hardest thing for me is breathing. Maybe that will get better with time. :)

That's about it as far as running is concerned. My mind has been on overdrive thinking about other stuff so running hasn't been a huge thing that I spend my time on. I'll have more to add later. Peace. :)

Sweet success!

Yesterday my roommate, co-worker, and I ran 3.9 miles! What an accomplishment. The only really, really hard thing for me while running is getting my breathing under control. I sometimes sound like I'm dying out there, haha. :) It was a really nice run though. I love being able to be outside running. Goodbye treadmills forever. No joke, they are the worst thing to do if you run. At least that's my opinion. I'm looking forward to the 5 miler next month. Pre-training will almost be over and then the hard miles start getting racked up. Here we go half-marathon. I will dominate you! :)