She Runs By Faith

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14 This morning, I was reading God's Word and working through a chapter from " Gideon " by Priscilla Shirer. This bible study covers the story of Gideon in Judges in great detail. In this specific chapter, Priscilla combines two of my favorite topics: faith and running! I love the below quote she shared. "Passion doesn't negate weariness; it just resolves to press beyond it." #LessonsFromGideon Why Press On? Why do distance runners continue to run through pain and discomfort? What motivates them to press on? They press on because their passion and zeal for the goal supersedes the strain. With the recent marathon still in the back of my mind, I remember the strain of the last 6....

Fashion - 0, Function - 1 Last Saturday's run was beautiful yet chilly with a light snowfall - notice the flakes that look like mini-comets in the picture - and my first real run since the marathon. Fall has to be the shortest season ever in these northern parts. One day, a run can be hot, humid and sweaty. Then, a few weeks later, it will be cool and rainy, or even snowy! I've been asked a few times about running through the winter and figured I would explain my winter strategy. Clearly, my approach to winter running is function over fashion (notice photo at right?). My running shorts just weren't going to do it for me this morning. I do slightly resemble a rodeo clown, but I was warm AND I was running out on the country roads by my parents farm and I doubt many saw me! Before I ramble on any further, here are a few running tips to keep you running all winter long: Winter Running Tips Dress in Layers. Layers are great for winter running because you can add...

Since the marathon I've been feeling, well, hungry. Probably because while I was running on Saturday, I thought about how badly I wanted to eat some pizza, a cheeseburger, or any warm foods. When the race was over, I had a hard time finishing much of anything I started to eat - a few bites of a bagel, a few bites of my sub (which I eventually finished; don't waste Erb's & Gerb's!), a few bites of oatmeal... bleh - except for my coffee of course. I annihilated that. Now that the marathon is over and done with, this week has been all about recovery. By recovery, I mean no running, just power catch-up-on-the-house work, designing, and taking care of Mr. E. Problem is, I'm just hungry and all I want to eat is carb-tastic food. This country's nutrition experts would probably say it's naughty to eat carbs, but everyone has a unique body type that works best on different fueling; hence different body type classifications like ectomorph, mesophorph, and endom...

Ugly weather, but beautiful rainbows! Well, I lived! Actually, the race this weekend went very well; probably better than it should have considering my last few weeks of training. I had a great time hanging out with my parents and E, though I was a bit bummed Leo couldn't join us. E and I had a very windy and rainy trip to the race on Friday evening. I felt bad for all of the 5k runners that night, especially if they had to run against that wind. On the plus side, we did get to see a beautiful double rainbow. (That's like the symbol of God's covenant times two!) Once we made it to town, we had supper with my mom and dad at the Ground Round and had a quick visit with my aunt and cousin, who had just run the 5k. My pre-race meal was a nutritious combo of a turkey pretzel sandwich and tater tots. Seriously. I couldn't believe they had tots! We made a quick stop at the rather small race expo and went to the hotel to crash for the night - or at least a couple hours ...

Eli and I leave early this afternoon for the marathon! Leo won't be joining us because they're smack dab in the middle of beet harvest still but the end is near. He'll keep tabs on me, though. Mr. Eli has been a wonderful training partner and has joined me for the majority of the training runs. What a good sport! Maybe someday, he'll want to run himself. Smiling with my little man :) Honestly, the nerves are sneaking up on me a bit. It's been +1 year since I ran Boston in 2012 and, here we are, 26.2 miles to cover tomorrow. Then again, it's just 26.2 miles. I found this image on Pinterest and it offers great perspective - at least I don't have to pull a sled! Marathon Goods Marathon "goods" are always nice; sometimes called "swag", but swag just isn't something I will ever have. I was excited to see they shared the finisher's shirt and medal design! Very cool - lumberjack style. If you aren't familiar with the ar...

Race day is creeping closer and closer. Only 7 days until #6! Even though this is my sixth marathon, training for it has been like no other before. The below quote has been key to training for this marathon. Flexibility of training has been the most important lesson I've learned! Stressing about missing a run, or being sick, or exhausted, or etc. isn't going to help you run a solid race. I'm taking it in stride this time around and just running. Relentless forward motion! "The runner shouldn't follow a training plan, a training plan should follow a runner." Coach Renato Canova Have any running motivation or quotes to share? Training This Time Around Roughly 90% of my training runs were ran with a jogging stroller. Only ran one 20-miler in training. Definitely didn't sleep enough. Had a week-long romance with a sinus infection two weeks from race day. Many runs went from their specific "speed", "tempo", "hill", ...

Do you ever feel like just throwing in the towel? I shouldn't even ask that question. Every human hits that point at times. These last couple weeks have kept me on the edge and it's felt so tempting to stop trying, to just sit down and give up. God has blessed me so much and saved me from such a lost life; I feel guilty admitting weakness and being vulnerable. We've had the best moving helpers on earth, but it still left me exhausted. Maybe it's more of an emotional exhaustion and some physical, too. I keep giving my cares to God and thinking "One day at a time, one day at a time..." Enjoying our last few days in the old house! A Seriously Small Town The elevator in the middle of our new town. I grew up in a "small town" of 2,500 people but now we live in a seriously small town of ~650 people. It's interesting; especially when I tried to plan out a 6-miler, jogger-friendly running route! The first couple days were intimidating an...