She Runs By Faith

This week kicked off training for my 11th marathon, the Fargo Marathon, coming up in May. Overall it really wasn't very exciting in running terms! After a relatively pleasant winter so far, we received an "Arctic blast" from Canada and now it's stinking cold. I now live on the treadmill ;) The poem "Snow-Bound" by John Greenleaf Whittier explains it well: “A chill no coat, however stout,  Of homespun stuff could quite shut out,” He's got that right. No coat will keep you warm in these temps! The current windchill is -33°F as I write that. Isn't that almost comical? Oh Minnesota... it's hard to imagine running a marathon outdoors four months from now! Life outside of running is exciting as always! My husband has kicked off the year following the Insanity workouts and he's really sticking to it. I'm proud of him! He's been the one getting up early and working out lately; I've gotten out of practice since the last trainin...

As the new year kicked off, I didn't have the usual list of resolutions or goals. Life has felt very full lately, full of so many blessings, but so full that I'm feeling overwhelmed. It seemed that I didn't need one more resolution to chase so I left this year more open-ended. I am always looking to grow myself as a wife, homeschooling mom, marathoner and, most importantly, child of God and nature study popped up as a tangible area to focus on this year. Having a nature journal can be such a relaxing and enjoyable way to explore God's creation. It can be. Yet I have felt stalled out over the past year, not knowing where to start. We are following the Simply Charlotte Mason curriculum for my oldest son's 1st grade year and I ran across the  Journaling a Year in Nature journal in their bookstore. I received a journal to review and just in time to kick off the longest and, in my opinion, most monotonous season in northern Minnesota. I started off this journe...

And it's a good thing. Okay, mainly it's my triceps and upper body in general! I haven't done push ups or dips in ages . We have had some amazing weather for January in Minnesota, think 30's and 40's with SUN. The kids and I have been taking in the rays and I run outside when logistically possible (which honestly hasn't been much). It's not the outdoor time or old injury that's made me so stiff. Not even the slip on ice I had a few weeks ago. Ouch, that did hurt too. It's been the Strength Training for Runners program that I bought from RunnersConnect with my Christmas money. Yeah. Merry Christmas all right, here have some sore muscles ;) In all seriousness, this strength program has been exactly what I needed to kick off the new year (thanks, mom & dad!) and it's the closest thing to a "running coach" that I'll ever have. That hip flexor strain last August took a whopping 4 months to completely heal. FOUR MONTHS! A...