summer running away

Things have been super busy! I kinda like summer that way - action packed ;-)

However, it could slow down now... please!

This week has been VBS week at my church.  I love teaching VBS! It's really easy; it's really fun; it's really rewarding!!!

But it's really tiring, too.  I had us in a new summer routine, but VBS started and got us out of whack. One thing really out of whack - my running schedule. I haven't run since last week! And the worst thing about this, I run my first 10k on July 4th - next Thursday!!!

I'm freaking out!

I plan on going to the YMCA on Saturday and running, and I plan on running on Monday. Other than that, no other plans to run.  I've gotten up to running as much as almost 5 miles practically non-stop, but is that enough to expect to run the 10k non-stop?  We'll see...

Truthfully, I don't think I'll do another 10k after this one.  Although, who knows. Maybe I'll run this and love it and start running more 10ks.  But, I don't think so. I really think the 5k distance is my forever racing love.  My time has been improving in 5ks, and a 5k ends at just the right time for me - when I think my heart and lungs are about to burst! LOL

Having said that, here are my goals for my first (and possibly last) 10k:

1 - Have fun! Enjoy the Peachtree atmosphere! I've been told the Peachtree is as iconic as and as exciting as the Boston Marathon.
2 - Run it as much as possible - but allow myself an occasional break at a water station (if I feel the need).
3 - Remember my new running mantra from my previous post... Relax, have fun, enjoy the run, pace yourself.

I'm running this mostly for two reasons: First, to say I've run a 10k.  Second, to say I've run the Peachtree. It's not about achieving a certain time for me. It's about doing it!

And despite my lack of training this week, I WILL do this!

And then half of my summer will be over - a realization that sucks!!!! 

But, that's for another post ;-)

I'll leave you with a bit of my wisdom and a glimpse of my VBS room.

Today's forget-me-not: Never back away from a challenge!

Space Mountain at Colossal Coaster World VBS

a great TIME

Today, I ran.


This was a nearby 5K to support our troops.  I had labeled this my pre-peachtree 10K race. ;-)

My only goal for this race was to run it well. I told myself that my time didn't matter - especially after I realized that I had just started my period.  Sorry if that is TMI for some, but the first day of my period is AWFUL.  I don't do anything well that day. You gotta know that to appreciate what happens next.  Anyway, so, I told myself to relax, have fun, enjoy the run, pace yourself...

AND I ACHIEVED MY BEST 5K TIME EVER! I CRUSHED MY PREVIOUS TIME!!!

Previous best 5K: 34:28
Today's 5K - new best: 31:47

That's an over 2 and a half minute improvement! Where did that come from?!

I dunno, but I'll take it!

The course was mostly flat with only two hills that had a slow incline - I took them easily.  It was a great course!

It was a good run. I'll take it!


Today's forget-me-not: Relax, have fun, enjoy the run, pace yourself... ;-)

altar call

Just read this in Hind's Feet On High Places:

"Then she [the protagonist, Much-Afraid] did that which only a short time before had seemed utterly impossible.  She knelt down at the foot of the precipice and built an altar and laid on it her will, her dread, and her shrinking, and when the fire had fallen she found among the ashes a larger and rougher-looking stone than any of the others, sharp-edged and dark in color, but otherwise quite ordinary looking."

Much-Afraid does this at key points in the book. She takes the time to build and visit an altar where she lays down her will, her self, her everything to/for the Great Shepherd (God).  And the result?  She is changed.

The truth here?  I need to take the time for altar calls - i.e. I need to have a quiet time.

Unfortunately, I have gotten away from this.

I know I said in a previous post that a set time each day isn't really necessary; however, when I go back and reread that post inspired by another post I had read, the alternative to having a set quiet time is instead being deliberate about nurturing my relationship with God whenever I can.

Either way, I am the common denominator. I have to initiate.  I am His temple, but this temple needs an alter and needs to be visited regularly.

I hear you, Lord. Loud. And. Clear.

Today's forget-me-not: Have quiet times with God, as regularly as is possible!

Feelings

The below statement was in the status of a friend of mine on Facebook.  There was such truth in this and spoke to what I've been struggling with lately, so I had to write on it!

“Feelings are indicators, not dictators. They can indicate where your heart is in the moment, but that doesn't mean they have the right to dictate your behavior and boss you around. You are more than the sum total of your feelings and perfectly capable of that little gift . . . called self-control.” - Unglued

I've had a bad last couple of days.

Hannah has been a whiny mess!  Yesterday, she woke up at 4:30am and would not go back to sleep.  She doesn't usually do that - only when she is teething REALLY badly.  I'm sure that is what it was.  I rocked her, gave her Tylenol, and put her back down, but she was not going back to sleep.  So, she cried.  And cried.  Until 6:00am when I finally said, "Forget it!"  Well, something like that. ;-)

I don't function well without sleep.  At. ALL!  To compound her teething, we have successfully weened her off the pacifier, but she's mad about it.  We used the bye-bye binkie method which has you slowly mangle the pacifier in an effort to get them to associate displeasure instead of pleasure with sucking the paci.  Anyway, she hates her paci now, and she hates that she hates it.  At least, I think that's where a lot of the whine is coming from lately. That and the teeth.  Anyway, whine is like nails on a chalkboard for me.  I HATE  HATE it!  Just one of the many MANY reasons why me as a stay-at-home mom would never NEVER work.

Anyway, combine all that with my strong-willed, sassy Beth.  She can be so disrespectful.  Trying to break her of that is going to break me!  Another thing that is going to break me is trying to read with her.  Reading - beginning reading - takes time and effort.  Those are two things she doesn't give freely and with much ease.  Yesterday, we started to read an easy reader book, and 20 minutes, one page, two sentences later, I was ready to ring her little neck!  And trying to convince her to wear her glasses while she reads or does any work... I need help with that.

Anyway, all that said to say, I've felt pretty down in the dumps lately. Frustrated and tired. I'm only a week into the summer with them (my second week of summer), and I feel as if we should have accomplished more or gotten into more of a routine?  I don't know.  Maybe I'm too hard on myself. 

Money is kinda tight over here right now, and that makes me cranky too.  When I'm on summer break, I want to do do do.  However, I need to keep the bigger picture in mind and not spend everything we have and more so we can go to Disney next year.  I want a Disney vacation so bad...

Well, feelings. Emotions.

"They don't have the right to dictate your behavior and boss you around. You are more than the sum total of your feelings and perfectly capable of that little gift . . . called self-control."

Yes. Today, I boss me around and not my emotions.  Fickle things.

I got this.  I got you, summer!  Let's rock and roll!!!

Today's forget-me-not: Don't let feelings get you down and out.  Get up and do something!

Resolutions Review - June

In 2013...
1. Grow Spiritually
2. Stay Healthy
3. Live, Love, and Laugh Often
 
1. Growing Spiritually.  I'm realizing that real spiritual growth happens when you take the hands of sorrow and suffering.  At least, that's what I'm learning as I continue to read Hind's Feet on High Places. Spiritual growth happens when you take the good with the bad - when you call out or cry out to God.  When you recognize your daily need for Him. 
 
This is not a resolution where I will at some point be able to say, "Check! I accomplished this goal!"
 
This is not something that is "accomplished" here on earth, and it isn't even something I have the power to initiate, provoke, or nurture on my own.  This is not something for me to "do". 
 
This needs to be my life.  A constant.
 
So, I am modifying this resolution. I am modifying this to a reminder, and I'll let you know how it goes. A new #1...
 
1. Lean on Him
 
2.   Staying healthy. I'm falling off the wagon here a little bit, and I blame two things for this.  First, cookies. I love cookies.  LOVE them.  We must not buy them any more - not even for the kids! BAD cookies!  I don't need them and neither do they, really.
 
Second, training for my 10K.  I don't like running for over 35 minutes.  I hate it.  I'm doing it - because I set it as a goal and have already paid for the Peachtree on July 4th.  However, whereas I used to jump at going for a run - relish it, really - I now dread going for a run.  Because I don't want to run for 50 minutes!  So...  I'm going to put in some shorter runs in between my training runs.  I need to blend in some joy with this pain!!! Ugh!
 
3. Living, loving, laughing... I've been working overtime on this one lately!  I'll end this post with some pics concerning this, and - suffice it to say - summer is time for me to reconnect with my kids and myself.  And in the course of that, there's a lot of living, loving, and laughing going on.
 
((hugz))