I've had two amazing runs in the last few days. I'll tell you about the first one in this post.
Last week, I planned to run on Friday after work, but a family dinner at D'Amico came up and I chose to attend that instead. You would have too. Yum! I planned to run on Saturday morning before Easter festivities started with my family. We celebrated a day early to accommodate schedules. A run wasn't going to fit in. I told myself that I had to run on Sunday, but Sunday was actually Easter and we had a full day planned. I needed a run though.
Fortunately, I have a son who wakes up ridiculously early, so we were up with him hours before the Easter church service was going to start. I told my husband that I was heading to the gym and off I went.
It was a gorgeous Easter morning. After days of rain, the sun came out. Seemed fitting to be so bright and happy on Easter Sunday. The drive to the gym was so pretty that I was actually really excited to go run. Because it was so early and because it was Easter Sunday, the gym was deserted. I had the top choice in treadmills. I chose one right by the window where I could soak in the sunshine. The music I chose to run to was a David Crowder Pandora station. Pandora made some great song choices and off I went.
My goal: 5 miles
It was 7:20 when I started the run. I started slowly to ease into it and it was so enjoyable that I think I was smiling. Yes, I was smiling... I know was... no reason to say, "I think." I wore my favorite green Puma hat and probably thought I could hide my happy face under it so nobody saw me acting all giddy. Who is this happy when running? Seriously.
I ran 1 mile, 2 miles, 3 miles and as I approached mile 4, I started to feel fatigued. It was also around this time that my phone battery died. Noooo. It was just me, my thoughts and the gym music that kept me going. It was peaceful though. I got through mile 4 and hit mile 5 on the 54-minute mark. I never said I was a fast runner. I did a quick stretch and headed home. I had to get my adorable almost 18 month old ready for Easter! When I walked in the door at home, I found my son, who was freshly bathed, and my husband sitting on the top of the stairs waiting for me. They both smiled ear to ear upon seeing their wife and mommy gross and sweaty. What a day! And it was only 8:45.
Good run. Great family. Amazing holiday.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Thank you!!!
You all are wonderful! The mothers in Haiti are so lucky to have such great supporters! Seeing the support encourages me to continue my training and to run strong for the moms. Thank you so much for helping me help them. It really means a lot.
After I posted about the fundraiser last week, I took my first 2-night trip away from my toddler. I flew to Seattle to visit my sister, who is a senior in college out there. We had amazing plans. The weekend schedule looked like this:
Dinner out Thursday night, hike Friday morning in the mountains, hang out in Queen Anne all afternoon, have dinner downtown Friday night, Saturday morning breakfast at a local bakery, drinks lots and lots and LOTS of coffee, and explore Pike's Market Saturday afternoon.
My sister had every detail planned out. She had arranged to get out of class early, take the day off from her internship, her roommates to hike with us and for her boyfriend to have dinner with us. She's adorable. My first vacation post baby! I was very excited. And then... I got sick. So sick. Thursday night I held my stomach and whined. We watched three movies on Friday in front of her TV and fireplace. I tried my best to sip on Gatorade. The plans were out the window. By Saturday afternoon, I felt well enough to visit Pike's, but only for 45 minutes. I left Seattle not taking one sip of amazing Seattle coffee. What a shame.
I was really looking forward to going for a run while in Seattle. I wanted to challenge myself with the crazy hills they have there. I don't think they have flat ground in and around where my sister lives. She trained for a half marathon on these roads and I wanted to do the same. But I couldn't. So. Sick.
Last night, I finally made it to the gym to run for the first time since that trip over the weekend. I was nervous how it would go since my caloric intake over those few days had been quite minimal. I went into it thinking that I'd run 2 miles and probably feel beat doing that.
Mile 1: I ran at 5.0 and felt as if I could run at that speed forever.
Mile 2: I ran at 5.5 and felt pretty good. I was definitely sweating, but wasn't breathing nearly as hard as I thought I'd be.
I stopped for a quick water break and started up again.
Mile 3: I ran at 6.0 and felt like I was pushing myself, but knew I could make it. I got pretty tired at 2.47 (yes, I remember) and felt a little discouraged. I kept telling myself that I am training for this race and I can do it. I also told myself that anyone can do anything for 5 more minutes. My husband tells me that and it worked.
I finished out this 3 mile run and felt great. I was doing some serious sweating, but my body was working hard after all the awfulness of last weekend. This weekend I'm planning a 5 mile run outside (IF it hits 60 degrees like its supposed to!). I love the way I feel this morning after that run last night.
After I posted about the fundraiser last week, I took my first 2-night trip away from my toddler. I flew to Seattle to visit my sister, who is a senior in college out there. We had amazing plans. The weekend schedule looked like this:
Dinner out Thursday night, hike Friday morning in the mountains, hang out in Queen Anne all afternoon, have dinner downtown Friday night, Saturday morning breakfast at a local bakery, drinks lots and lots and LOTS of coffee, and explore Pike's Market Saturday afternoon.
My sister had every detail planned out. She had arranged to get out of class early, take the day off from her internship, her roommates to hike with us and for her boyfriend to have dinner with us. She's adorable. My first vacation post baby! I was very excited. And then... I got sick. So sick. Thursday night I held my stomach and whined. We watched three movies on Friday in front of her TV and fireplace. I tried my best to sip on Gatorade. The plans were out the window. By Saturday afternoon, I felt well enough to visit Pike's, but only for 45 minutes. I left Seattle not taking one sip of amazing Seattle coffee. What a shame.
I was really looking forward to going for a run while in Seattle. I wanted to challenge myself with the crazy hills they have there. I don't think they have flat ground in and around where my sister lives. She trained for a half marathon on these roads and I wanted to do the same. But I couldn't. So. Sick.
Last night, I finally made it to the gym to run for the first time since that trip over the weekend. I was nervous how it would go since my caloric intake over those few days had been quite minimal. I went into it thinking that I'd run 2 miles and probably feel beat doing that.
Mile 1: I ran at 5.0 and felt as if I could run at that speed forever.
Mile 2: I ran at 5.5 and felt pretty good. I was definitely sweating, but wasn't breathing nearly as hard as I thought I'd be.
I stopped for a quick water break and started up again.
Mile 3: I ran at 6.0 and felt like I was pushing myself, but knew I could make it. I got pretty tired at 2.47 (yes, I remember) and felt a little discouraged. I kept telling myself that I am training for this race and I can do it. I also told myself that anyone can do anything for 5 more minutes. My husband tells me that and it worked.
I finished out this 3 mile run and felt great. I was doing some serious sweating, but my body was working hard after all the awfulness of last weekend. This weekend I'm planning a 5 mile run outside (IF it hits 60 degrees like its supposed to!). I love the way I feel this morning after that run last night.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
The Harbor House
I started this I Run For blog because I felt like I had so many reasons to get my body moving. As a mom, I need to run to feel healthy and to get a little me time once in a while. As a mom and full-time employee for a global company, I need to run to just rid myself of daily stress. Last year, I ran my first half marathon and I did it for myself. I felt amazing when I finished, had a new sense of confidence and knew I would run that race again. I'm doing the Minneapolis Team Ortho Half Marathon again this June. However, this time I'm not doing it for myself.
I run for The Harbor House.
There are some amazing people I know who moved their family to Haiti roughly 5 years ago and are part of a team of people who run The Harbor House. This house is a safe home for teen moms and their young children. A place of refuge.
I had the idea to run for these young mothers months ago, but never acted on the nudge I felt. I was scared. Nervous. I felt like I am just one person and how can I possibly make a difference for these young girls and their babies. They have been through so much in their short lifetime and now as new moms will experience so much more. They will have joyful experiences and challenging ones, too. I was a new mom just a short while ago and felt those challenges myself. I ran the race last year to regain my strength and to prove to myself I could be a great mom. The nudge I felt would not go away and it was one Sunday morning while sitting in church that I decided I needed to run that race. It was on my heart and would not go away. I am running this race again, but this time to raise money for The Harbor House in hopes that these moms will too find strength, confidence and the insane amount of love for their child that I have found for mine.
My goal is to raise $712 by race day. This amount covers one week at The Harbor House. Please click on the Chip In event on the top of my blog if you're interested in helping me raise money for this home.
From the Livesay's blog:
"The house is in the process of being upgraded and changed each week and is therefore still very much under construction. We've been having fun painting and planning. Soon another carpenter is coming to build beds with drawers for each young woman and her child. The work is on-going and we're laboring to make the house feel like a home. We'll share photos of the house itself as things continue to change.
Each day there are planned activities (school, chores, classwork, group Bible study) and each month there are days the girls are able to leave to go visit family. Saturday and Sunday are visitation days when the girls' families can come to the Harbor House. Weekends are much less structured. The girls will soon begin taking a jewelry making class and in April we'll begin a trauma support group with them.
The most important thing happening at Harbor House is the daily modeling of respect, conflict resolution, child-rearing, and problem solving. The day in and day out real-life examples being shared by those of us that are living here in community with them far exceeds the importance of reading, writing, or arithmetic.
It is our hope and our belief that investing in these young mothers is investing in the future. Ten young moms raise ten secure, well-loved, well-attached children who go on to raise their own well-loved, well-attached and secure children ... "
I have run for myself. Now I run for all of the other new moms in Haiti.
I run for The Harbor House.
There are some amazing people I know who moved their family to Haiti roughly 5 years ago and are part of a team of people who run The Harbor House. This house is a safe home for teen moms and their young children. A place of refuge.
I had the idea to run for these young mothers months ago, but never acted on the nudge I felt. I was scared. Nervous. I felt like I am just one person and how can I possibly make a difference for these young girls and their babies. They have been through so much in their short lifetime and now as new moms will experience so much more. They will have joyful experiences and challenging ones, too. I was a new mom just a short while ago and felt those challenges myself. I ran the race last year to regain my strength and to prove to myself I could be a great mom. The nudge I felt would not go away and it was one Sunday morning while sitting in church that I decided I needed to run that race. It was on my heart and would not go away. I am running this race again, but this time to raise money for The Harbor House in hopes that these moms will too find strength, confidence and the insane amount of love for their child that I have found for mine.
My goal is to raise $712 by race day. This amount covers one week at The Harbor House. Please click on the Chip In event on the top of my blog if you're interested in helping me raise money for this home.
From the Livesay's blog:
"The house is in the process of being upgraded and changed each week and is therefore still very much under construction. We've been having fun painting and planning. Soon another carpenter is coming to build beds with drawers for each young woman and her child. The work is on-going and we're laboring to make the house feel like a home. We'll share photos of the house itself as things continue to change.
Each day there are planned activities (school, chores, classwork, group Bible study) and each month there are days the girls are able to leave to go visit family. Saturday and Sunday are visitation days when the girls' families can come to the Harbor House. Weekends are much less structured. The girls will soon begin taking a jewelry making class and in April we'll begin a trauma support group with them.
The most important thing happening at Harbor House is the daily modeling of respect, conflict resolution, child-rearing, and problem solving. The day in and day out real-life examples being shared by those of us that are living here in community with them far exceeds the importance of reading, writing, or arithmetic.
It is our hope and our belief that investing in these young mothers is investing in the future. Ten young moms raise ten secure, well-loved, well-attached children who go on to raise their own well-loved, well-attached and secure children ... "
I have run for myself. Now I run for all of the other new moms in Haiti.
Monday, April 11, 2011
processing
I run to clear my mind. Some days there is too much to process. Too much to think about in one day. Lately I feel like I've been surrounded by others who are going through great suffering in their lives. I don't understand it. I run to process it, but it doesn't take away the fact that there is still such great suffering happening. How do I help these people. If I am struggling to process and am not nearly as deeply affected as they are, how are they processing?
I run to process, to think, to hope, to pray, to remember life is short, to thank God for the beautiful child He gave us, to think about the endless list of things I love about my son, to smile when I think about my husband and pray to God that He gives us so many more years together that we're old and gray and can't hear each other speak.
Some days running is for clearing out my head and reflecting on all I've been given.
I run to process, to think, to hope, to pray, to remember life is short, to thank God for the beautiful child He gave us, to think about the endless list of things I love about my son, to smile when I think about my husband and pray to God that He gives us so many more years together that we're old and gray and can't hear each other speak.
Some days running is for clearing out my head and reflecting on all I've been given.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Family Fun!
Maybe this time the snow has melted for good. I hope so. My husband is very concerned the lake won't warm up very much this summer at the cabin. That won't stop him from waterskiing far too many times in one day though. If I waterskiied as much and cut as hard as he does in one day, I wouldn't be able to move any of my limbs due to soreness.
On Saturday, it was a beautiful sunny day. We put our little guy in the jogging stroller and headed out for a run around the neighborhood. We jogged through the "next step up" development and noted how close together the houses are being built. Maybe we don't want to live here. We kept going and went through the 5,000 square foot homes neighborhood. We each picked out our favorite house. He picked the one I didn't like and same for me.
It was a pleasant run. Good speed. Warm sun. Just enough hills to make me work harder than the usual treadmill routine. Our son was getting antsy, so we had to speed up. My husband's stride is so long and he will always be in better shape than me. He wasn't even breathing hard while running fast and pushing the jogging stroller with a 33 pound weight wiggling around in the seat (that weight was was also whining for more crackers the entire second half of the run). My husband kept saying, "You got it! You can make it home. Let's pick it up more! You can do it."
Sure enough. I did it. I kept up with him. My heart was pounding and my legs felt like noodles. I like family runs. My husband is a great encourager. He got me over the 4 mile hurdle last year and I may need him to help me again this spring because...
I have a race in my future. A big one.
On Saturday, it was a beautiful sunny day. We put our little guy in the jogging stroller and headed out for a run around the neighborhood. We jogged through the "next step up" development and noted how close together the houses are being built. Maybe we don't want to live here. We kept going and went through the 5,000 square foot homes neighborhood. We each picked out our favorite house. He picked the one I didn't like and same for me.
It was a pleasant run. Good speed. Warm sun. Just enough hills to make me work harder than the usual treadmill routine. Our son was getting antsy, so we had to speed up. My husband's stride is so long and he will always be in better shape than me. He wasn't even breathing hard while running fast and pushing the jogging stroller with a 33 pound weight wiggling around in the seat (that weight was was also whining for more crackers the entire second half of the run). My husband kept saying, "You got it! You can make it home. Let's pick it up more! You can do it."
Sure enough. I did it. I kept up with him. My heart was pounding and my legs felt like noodles. I like family runs. My husband is a great encourager. He got me over the 4 mile hurdle last year and I may need him to help me again this spring because...
I have a race in my future. A big one.
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