She Runs By Faith

I’ll admit it, I love "geeking out" on marathon training. I'm a graphic designer by trade, but training and sport physiology are fascinating topics. My marathon training plan for October’s marathon is currently in the works, so I wanted to share some resources I’m “geeking out” on while making my plan. It’s been over a year since I ran the Boston Marathon and training in this new phase of life is going to be a bit more tricky! After looking over our family schedule, morning training runs seem to work best. This means waking up at 4:30 and being back home by 5:45 when Leo and E will be waking up. I don’t mind the early mornings, but that does present the problem of getting to bed around 9:30 or 10 (maybe E will let me sleep a bit at night!). So, as for the training plan; the below information is from McMillan’s Six-Step Training System by Greg McMillan, M.S. This training system has helped me immensely to understand the technical side of marathon training and what the...

My maternity leave is coming to an end tomorrow and I am not looking forward to being away from my little man for 40 hours a week. Staying at home with him has been an eye-opening experience that I was not a fan of initially, but now I absolutely love it. Spending every day with my son has been challenging at times, but such a blessing. I am going to miss spending every day with my little man. Here's a day in the life with E: E-A-S-Y: Throughout the day, we have a repetitive "E-A-S-Y" cycle. E ats A ctivity time S leep time " Y ou" (mommy) time.   I learned about that cycle in the book "Secrets of a Baby Whisperer" by Tracy Hogg. Good read! Devo Time: After dad's off to work, E and mom spend some morning time in God's Word and in prayer.   Workout Time: E and I head out with the jogger or, if the weather isn't favorable, I do a workout DVD while he naps. Our first jogger adventure Design/Blog Time: This is des...

This week flew by and we've had some really nice weather on and off! I've been enjoying my last week home with E, trying to make the best of every second. Leo has the day off work so we're working outside on the garden and other yard projects. While the boys were sleeping, I got out for a 10-miler today that left me with a new set of t-shirt tan lines. I'm not officially training for anything yet, but my body has been craving a long(er) distance run and it felt so good to get out there again! Anyways, I'll make this a short post because I need to finish out a design project and then get out and enjoy more of this beautiful Saturday! Beautiful Thursday run! {Weekly Workouts} M - 7 mile very wet and rainy run. My hip is feeling better and it's GREAT to feel a bit more normal :) I'm very tired, but it's due to having a sweet little newborn in the house! T - 30-Day Shred (L3) + 4 mile run with TRF River Runners W - 4 mile AM jogger run with E....

A year ago from yesterday, my best friend and I got married! We celebrated our first year together by having a good friend babysit E while we went out for coffee, stopped in at the Super One grocery store, and had a K-Mart adventure. It doesn't get more romantic than that! We made some big purchases; red vines, whipped cream, and new pillows. A Few Thoughts On Marriage: 1. Marriage is AWESOME . My husband is my adventure partner! 2. Marriage is challenging. It has further reinforced the fact that I need to put others needs before myself and my way isn't always the highway. God is using marriage and my husband to better shape my character everyday. Parenthood has been a continuation of this lesson. 3. Marriage is God's masterpiece. We are called to love our spouse as Christ loves the church. That's a huge responsibility, but it's made possible by God and the Holy Spirit. Truly loving someone and being loved by someone is an amazing feeling. 4. Marriage h...

Happy weekend! My in-laws stayed with us for the first half of the week and it has been a fun but busy one. Our garden is now tilled, storage shed is up, and well pump is installed. Now it's time to plant, asap! Oatmeal is my latest obsession. It's a random mix of ingredients and needs a name, so I'll call it "Wild Fruity Oatmeal". This is a healthier alternative to eating boxed cereals and is very versatile. I basically add whatever fruits we have laying around into my oatmeal! Wild Fruity Oatmeal - Mixed Berry Edition Wild Fruity Oatmeal 1/2 cup quick oats 1 Tablespoon plain yogurt 1 Tablespoon flax seed 1 Tablespoon peanut butter Blueberries Cranberries (any other fruits work, too) Milk Microwave for ~1 minute 30 seconds and eat once cooled! {Weekly Workouts} M - 5 mile PM jogger run with E. T - Late night 45 minute run. W - 15 minute easy jogger run with E. H - 6 mile AM jogger run with E. Warm, beautiful day outside! The jogger is...

After reading a post about "The Get-Back-in-My-Jeans Game Plan" at A Healthy Slice of Life , I've decided that it's time for me, too, to hit the "reset" button. I'm feeling really great postpartum, but I want to focus on eating healthier and taking better care of my body. Especially since I'm hungry all of the time, I want to make healthy food choices rather than carbing-it-up for a snack! It's hard to form new habits, but right now I'm choosing to start working towards developing healthy life habits. So, here is a review of my {reset} button plan: {1. Faith} Focus on memorizing one Bible verse a week. Each day, I want God's Word to be the first words I read; no devotionals, internet, other books first! I want to be a woman of prayer, giving all of my daily worries to God. My prayers need to consistently ask God how He wants me to use my gifts and what He wants me to do each day. {2. Family} I want to continue to grow as a go...

I'm a day late, but in honor of Mother's Day yesterday, I wanted to share the below post. A friend of mine shared an amazing blog post about motherhood in the modern world, "Having Babies {in Opposite World}" . It really sums up the contrast between God's view of motherhood and children compared to this world's view of them. In the little experience that I have as a mom so far, I'm finding it is a huge challenge, but completely worth every second. Taking care of a baby definitely shapes your character. It has taught me many lessons in selflessness and compassion; flexibility and patience; and Biblical love. I have a whole new appreciation for my own mother; she is truly amazing! This world does not value babies and motherhood is often viewed negatively. Many women don't want to give up their freedom, career, money, body, you name it... there are so many excuses. Motherhood is a sacrifice, but no material thing on earth is more rewarding than rais...

The graduation party was a success and Leo is officially a college graduate! E and I are very proud of him. We had plenty of food and I did end up making the party punch and slow cooker cowboy beans. The beans were delicious but the punch was rather sweet (and I even skipped the 1 cup of sugar in the recipe...). Leo, E, and I left in the morning for the pre-commencement reception, Leo walked for graduation, we got home and hurried to prep for guests, and I think we went to bed at 11 pm or so. Hey, that's late for me! I'm ready for bed at 9 pm these days. A new week has started and I have to admit I'm completely exhausted! E has been rather cranky these last few days, so I do what I can while he's sleeping and then try to comfort a crying baby when he's awake. Maybe it's a growth spurt again ? Whatever it is, I'm finding that being a mom is awesome but exhausting at the same time. I've decided to take it easy on the running until I start marathon tra...

I've been cleaning the house like a mad person this week in preparation for Leo's grad party this weekend and WOW does it feel good to have a clean house. The weather has been gorgeous, so I can even have the windows open to let in the fresh spring air! My right hip has been bugging me lately so I'm trying to take it easy and clean like crazy instead of run (it's so beautiful, though, maybe I'll sneak out for a very slowww easy run today). We're hanging on the porch now; E is sleeping and I'm writing baby/graduation Thank You's like it's my job and working on next month's meal plan. Ladies' Bible study is at my house tonight, so I baked some goods today. I'll call them Peanut Butter Flax Cookies; they are delicious so I packed them away before I eat them all! Peanut Butter Flax Cookies Peanut Butter Flax Cookies 1/2 cup butter 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar 2 tablespoons of water (I got a little crazy and used brewed co...

Camelbaks are a trail's best friend. Summer has finally arrived. I know this because I got my first official sunburn of 2013! The trail running bug has got me now and I'm hoping to hit to the trails sometime soon. We live in town currently, so my runs are on asphalt unless I hit the country gravel roads or some short trails in town. Running is running, so I can't complain either way, but there's something extra awesome about trail running. I loved to run around in our horse and cow pastures as a kid and that really hasn't changed too much, now I just call it trail running! Why is trail running full of awesome-ness? 1. It's hard! The first marathon I ever ran was a trail marathon (back in 2010) and I had NO clue what I was getting in to. Training for 26.2 miles is enough of a feat and I didn't exactly train properly to run trails for that distance. Fortunately I survived, though the hills and varying terrain definitely took its toll on my by the time...

It's been a good week of running! E and I roadtripped even farther north to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa E while Leo was at drill. We miss him but the weekend has flown by. While Grandma was watching E his morning, I went out for my long run and enjoyed gravel and minimum maintenance roads. They aren't real "trails" but it's a nice change from running on pavement all week! The trail running bug is definitely starting to hit now that it's drying up outside... I'm planning to do a post on trail running soon. You can find all kinds of wonderful things on the trails; wildlife, beautiful scenery, fresh air, and a full deck of Pokemon cards that some kid lost on a trail... Seriously, I found a deck of Pokemon cards on a long run once out in the woods. Did I take them home and try to clean them off? Yes, but they were dirty and wet beyond repair :( {Weekly Workouts} M - 4 mile jogging stroller run with E + 30-Day Shred DVD (L3) T - 6 mile AM run, 5 ...

I've always been a hungry person, but being pregnant made me even more hungry. I thought that issue would go away after the delivery, but I was horrible mistaken. Being a breastfeeding runner has made me into a raging carb monster! To fight the raging carb monster urges to eat waffles and pizza for every meal, I've been trying my hand at eating more spinach salads, vegetables, and oatmeal with fruit. Leo and I are both trying to eat more fruits and veggies these days. It helps immensely when it's a team effort to eat better! And, since there's a little human that takes in the nutrients I'm eating, it makes me think twice about what I'm eating each day. Not to say there's anything wrong with eating pizza from time to time. Especially if it's homemade instead of Domino's! Tomorrow's game plan is a homemade "healthy" pizza for supper. I never have yeast in the cupboard, so the below recipe has been a lifesaver. I make the pizza crust...