Ok, followers, once again, our lives have taken some twists and turns and Sara and I are going to roommates again...this time in New York City! Sara has actually been living there since August, but I am going to join her TOMORROW!! Along with our third roommate (and fellow Texan) Leticia, we are going to be having all sorts of adventures! Wanted to make sure you all had our new blog addresses so you can give us a follow.

Sara's blog - Sara in the City - www.saraehenderson.blogspot.com
Janell's blog - Behind Enemy Lines - www.stillnotayankeefan.blogspot.com

Check us out!

New Blog

Hello, faithful blog followers!! Sara and I are getting ready to be roommates at the end of the month, and so we created a new blog to keep track of all of our adventures. Come check it out, and follow us!
http://www.mulberryct.blogspot.com

Curious about the name?? Read the first post...haha. :-)

AAAAHHHH!!!

Ok, I'm sure you guys have been sitting on the edge of your seats for this, so here goes nothing (I believe that was the title of my very first post - how appropriate)...

Friday after work, Sara and I went over to see our chiropractor/friend/marathon enthusiast Dr. Ben before we headed to Waco. After he adjusted us and gave us a little pep talk, we were on our way. We met up with Sara's roommates and friends and went to an Italian food restaurant for some carb loading. Here we are enjoying our final hours of ache-free, carb-eating bliss:

Friday night, we decided we would try to go to bed by 10:30. It ended up being more like 11:00, but we were still pretty good. Then, Sara's dryer (which just so happens to be right outside of her room) decided to go all satanic on us and start smoking and making crazy noises! So her poor roommate was trying to deal with that as quietly as possible, but to no avail. We probably didn't get to sleep until around midnight.

Saturday morning, we woke up bright and early at 6:30. As you have already seen from our pre-race post, the weather Saturday morning was not really very conducive to moving, much less running 13.1 miles. Sara did borrow some pants from her roommate, but I decided to tough it out with my shorts. Luckily, I had brought two hoodies, so we did use those to keep us somewhat warm. This is us FREEZING before the race. Seriously, I was so cold, I couldn't even talk right. My mouth wouldn't even form the words.

Here we are as we took off at the starting line. Why we look so happy, I do not know. That is our friend Nathan who used to work with us at the children's home to my left in the red. It was cool to get to catch up with him and he ran with us for the first 4 or 5 miles.

**Side note** My parents and Sara's mom and sister came to watch us, which was AWESOME. They took all of these pictures. They saw us off at the starting line, caught up with us for a couple of the miles in between, and of course, were there to celebrate with us at the finish line. It was great!!

The Actual Race

Ok, I know you hear a lot about adrenaline during times like these. All the stories we had read said that adrenaline would play a big part on race day. I didn't really believe that until now. Sara and I had said that we would try to run the first 3 miles or so without stopping, then take short walk breaks after that. 3 miles is the most we had really run without a walk break up until then. Well, somewhere between mile 5 and mile 6, we were still running and feeling good...it had to be the adrenaline. And luckily, the heat had begun to radiate through our bodies, so we weren't so freezing anymore. Well, we kept running until well into mile 6, but things took a decidedly different turn when we made our way into Cameron Park. You see, up until that point we had been running a relatively flat course. But miles 6-10 brought about a lovely scenic and HILLY part of the course, one that can only be described as torture. It didn't help that as we were entering the park, the front runners in the race were already coming out...yes they were about 4-5 miles ahead of us. RIDICULOUS. That really helped inspire us...HA!

Well, amazingly, we made our way through the hills, and emerged victorious, anxious to run the last 3 miles on some flat ground. We figured it would be smooth sailing from here on out. Pretty stupid of us. Somewhere around mile 11, the 4 ibuprofen I took before the race (sorry, Dr. Ben!!) started to wear off and my foot was throbbing. And THEN the nausea set in...for both of us. The last 2 miles were by far the hardest - I think we both thought we would have to stop and throw up. At this point, it became a no-win situation...if I was running, I felt like I was going to be sick, and if I was walking, my foot hurt like a thousand times more. So we pretty much just sucked it up. We knew by this time that we were going to make it with plenty of time to spare, so we did actually take it easy, especially the last mile or so. It kind of sucked because we could have had a much better time had we just ran those last miles.

But no worries...the best feeling in the world came when we turned that last corner and saw the finish line, probably just a quarter mile away. I could see our parents and friends yelling and screaming and taking pictures. We decided the four of us (me, Sara, and her roommates Audrey and Christy) would hold hands and cross together. Cheesy, I know, but we had been through a lot that day.

So, in those moments, a ton of things were going through my head, but mostly an overwhelming sense of pride and accomplishment, despite my aching body. We crossed the finish line at 2 hours, 45 minutes, and 36 seconds, which is not a great time, but it felt great to me. 3 months ago, it would have taken me that long to run 5 miles, so finishing 13.1 in that time was pretty amazing.

I wanted to take this time to point out some pretty wonderful things/people that really helped us to get through these last few months, and race day itself:

Each Other - There is NO way I could have ever done this without Sara. Even though we were not always the best at keeping each other accountable (haha), we stuck it out and encouraged each other when we didn't think we could do it. Sara is an amazing friend and the ONLY thing I will miss about all this running is our great talks along the way. Love you!

Student Foundations - These are the people who put on the Bearathon. They had students stationed at every mile marker, yelling and screaming and encouraging us. They also had food and water, which of course made a huge difference. We could hear the mile markers sometimes before we could see them, and it helped a lot to know it was coming up.

Sara's AWESOME roommates and friends - Sara's roommate Christin and her friend Angel were complete Godsends on race day. Christin worked from 11 pm - 7 am the night before, but instead of coming home to sleep, she came to support us. She and Angel basically stalked us during the race, popping up at least every other mile to encourage us and cheer us on. They even made posters for us! It helped us SOO much!! At the finish line, they were joined by Sara's other roommate Becky and her friend Larissa. They cheered us on until we finished. Thanks so much!!

Our wonderful families - For all the encouragement during our 3 months of training, and a big thanks to my mom and dad, and Sara's mom and sister, who drove (almost 4 hours for my folks) and braved the cold to see us off, to catch up with us around miles 8-9 (even though I hear they enjoyed a tasty breakfast in between!!), and to of course watch us finish. They also sent me a super yummy Edible Arrangement at work Friday, which was a big hit at the office. We are pretty blessed.

ABC/Dairy Queen - I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the importance of Bachelor/Blizzard Mondays(currently known as Dancing with the Stars/Dairy Queen Mondays) to our training regimen. I mean, sometimes that was the driving force behind our Sunday runs. :-)

You, our amazing blog readers - Truly, I am not sure we would have finished had we not started this blog...talk about accountability. I didn't realize how many people read this blog until the last few weeks when totally random people on Facebook and at work have asked me about my foot and wished me good luck on the race. It means a whole lot, and I am so glad we finished so I don't have to be ashamed in front of all of you. Haha. :-)

To finish, I am posting a few more pictures from the race. They are pretty disgusting pictures of me, but I decided I did not mind, because hey, I am a marathonist and that is the price we pay. :-) Just don't go showing them to your friends.

Before we left Sara's apartment Saturday - we had NO idea what we were getting ourselves into!!

I think this is Mile 9 or so when my parents showed up to cheer us on. If I had any idea why the crap I am looking so happy or doing a little victory dance, I would let you know. I was delusional from the hills at this point. :-)

After the race...my face pretty much says it all. (FYI - after this picture we pretty much broke that trailer hitch when we put like 15 people on it...haha)

Thanks again, everyone!! Sara please add anything I forgot as well as any pictures you got that I didn't.

VICTORY IS OURS!!!!

WE FINISHED!!!!!!!! WE DID IT!!!!!!!! And we finished in a nice round 2 hours and 45 minutes : ) Janell's foot might fall off and my lower back feels detached from the upper half, but WE FINISHED! We have our lovely medals and our finishers shirts and could not feel more accomplished than we do right now! Thanks for all of your encouragement along the way! We'll give a more detailed account of the run after our vision stops being blurry : )

NEWS FLASH!

O...M...G. Just checked the weather for in the morning-- and at 9:00- an hour AFTER we start running- it's going to be 40 degrees-- with a wind chill of 29 degrees!! Janell and I DID NOT PACK PANTS! So we will be freezing for the majority of the run- it's not supposed to get above 47 until 12:00- hopefully we'll be done by that time!! I mean, the course shuts down at 11:00 so we're gonna HAVE to be done. This is such a crazy turn of events!! OH TEXAS WEATHER. We'll keep you posted...

What?? It's Tomorrow??

Okay- Sara here. Exactly 24 hours from now Janell and I will have begun our 13.09 mi. journey and will most likely be hating ourselves pretty hard core. WHAT possessed us to do this?? I'm a wee bit terrified, if you can't tell. I mean- that's a long way to run! And Janell's foot is barely better! And there are lots of HILLS on this route! Of course there are a few things to be excited about at the finish line: A free t-shirt (which we of course paid for with our registration fee); All our friends and family who came to watch us run through that finish line looking like death; And this year, the Bearathon has decided to give all the finishers (even if you come in last) green bear paw medals. Move aside "Most Improved" 5th Grade Softball Team trophy-- I have a new athletic accomplishment to display! So I think as I'm running, when I begin to get dismayed, I will close my eyes (well not really-- more like I'll stare into space-- I'm pretty clumsy) and envision that brand-new shirt and gleaming green medal in the distance. Plus I'll probably be motivated to keep running as I watch all the old people, pregnant women, and kids on tricycles pass me. Though I am terrified- I'm pretty pumped. This is going to be exciting! Thanks for all of you who have been faithful readers of Janell and my first attempt at a blog. We couldn't have done it without you! (Literally: Often times we would have to say "NO, we can't STOP- what will our blog followers think? No no, that's too embarrassing!) So say a little prayer tomorrow morning for us- and keep posted tomorrow evening or Sunday for a follow-up post after the race! 

3 days and counting...

The foot is feeling pretty good today, for the first time in like a week and a half...your prayers are working and I definitely feel them!!
I am still a little scared and concerned that I will not be ready on Saturday since I have had to take so much time off these last two weeks. But I also feel like I can do it, as long as my foot cooperates. We will see I guess.
Thanks to everyone for the comments/calls/texts of encouragement...keep praying!

AAAHHHH!!!!

Ok, I am so sorry I've been so bad about posting on here. There has been so much craziness going on that I just couldn't sit down and write it all.

So let me bring you up to speed:
First of all, the race is in 5 days!!! Can you believe it?? I certainly can't. It feels like the last 3 months have flown by!!
The last 2-3 weeks have been full of drama and a little lacking in the actual running. Let me explain...

3 Saturdays ago (the 7th), we had decided that we were going to run Town Lake (which apparently, is now officially Lady Bird Lake, as I was reminded by one of my kids), which we were thinking is about 8 or 9 miles. We weren't really sure because we had never actually ran the whole thing, just the main part of it where everybody runs. But we had plenty of time, so we decided we would just wing it.

When I woke up Saturday, I had a bad feeling. You see, as a child, I was known for having extremely high fevers, like 104, 105ish kind of fevers. I don't get them quite that high anymore, but they still get pretty high. And because I have had this my whole life, I can tell when they are coming on. Which is the feeling I had when I woke up Saturday. I took my temperature and it was normal, just like I knew it would be. And there wasn't really anything wrong with me except that I just knew it was coming. But I was DETERMINED to do this run, since the last few weeks had been a little slow with all of our injuries/ailments. And what was I going to say anyway? "I feel fine and I have no fever, I just feel like I MIGHT get one later, so I'm just going to stay home..." Nope.

If this had been a normal day, I would have just gone ahead and taken some aspirin so I wouldn't get the fever when it decided to creep up on me. But it is a really bad idea to take a pain reliever before you run, because if you injure a muscle or something, you need to know it. So I didn't take anything, just hopped in the car with Sara and headed to Austin.

We got to Town Lake and started running. We actually made it a mile and a half or so without stopping, but then I started to feel it. My body just started acting crazy. I was so hot, I felt like my skin was burning. And I was so dehydrated, my hands were swelling and I was getting a little dizzy. At this point, we were at what we thought was pretty close to the halfway point. There is a water station, complete with little paper cone cups and water dispensers. I drank probably 15-20 of those little cups and also put some water on my head. That helped some and we ran for a little while before I started getting sick again. Anyway, this continued on the rest of the run (which eventually became a walk/crawl/just trying to get back to the car without dying). So, needless to say, this was not a very good run. And to top it all off, somewhere around mile 2, we nearly had heart attacks when this random Confederate army convention decided to set off a giant cannon like 100 yards from us. That was fun.

Long story short, we ended up mostly walking about 7 miles and I spent the next 5 days at home sick. Blah.

By the next weekend, I was feeling a lot better, and we REALLY needed to run, so Sunday, we headed back to Town Lake, and we actually had a a great run. 12 miles with little to no problems. Of course, we were super sore from head to toe, but nothing out of the ordinary as far as I could tell.

WRONG.

Monday, I could barely walk on my left foot. Again, I just thought maybe it was sore from the run and since Monday was our off day anyway, I just iced it and figured I would run on Tuesday. Well it never got better, so I finally went to the doctor on Thursday and he took x-rays. He didn't see anything on the x-ray, but he said sometimes with stress fractures, they don't show up right away. He also said that it could be tendonitis or maybe a sprain. Either way there was not much he could do. He said just to rest it and do some low impact cardio until it felt better.

Now we are sitting at 5 days until the race and my foot is still hurt. It does feel better, but I don't think I can run 13 miles on it. So, PLEASE pray for healing. It would be so disappointing to have worked so hard for so many months and not get to finish what we started. I am still confident that I can run on Saturday - I just need things to feel a little better.

Well, that was a long post. I promise we will keep you updated this week and of course after the race. Hope everyone is having a great day!!
Janell

Athletic Afflictions

Sara here... I have a big fear that after I write this, people are going to begin to question whether or not I'm truly dedicated to running this half marathon. So I want to give the disclaimer that I am VERY annoyed by what is happening and no matter how I'm feeling on March 28th-- I WILL be completing that run, even if I have to do it in a wheelchair! Now- not to worry, things are not that bad, but I have a bit of a "calf strain" - whatever that means. This happened a week ago today- last Tuesday, when I was running on the treadmill. After a mere mile, my calf completely tensed up and freaked out. Both of my legs went numb and I had to get off and stretch and figure out if I could return to the treadmill without causing my biggest fear to come true- falling off the treadmill and sliding backwards in the middle of the gym. After a few minutes, I decided I was going to be fine, the feeling returned to my legs, so I started walking and worked up to running- but as soon as I started running again there was this SHOOTING pain in my right calf. Over the next few days I tried to run, but the calf pain has prevailed. It wasn't hurting when I was walking, only when I tried to run. Now, a week later, the pain is there even when I'm walking. SO, I'm a bit concerned. I've been icing it, and I'm going to swim tonight to try and work out the muscle some- but needless to say I have not run for a week and I'm real concerned about what's going to happen. It's not hugely painful- just enough to keep me from running. Okay- that was a really long story, but I just wanted to give an update.

SO this has been holding back Janell- because running without a partner is SO LAME! But today she is going to be back on track- she's going to run and I'm going to swim and we are still going to dominate the Bearathon... meaning we're going to finish before they shut it down : ) It's funny that even after 2 1/2 months of training, I still HATE running. I swear I do it for the ice cream on Mondays. Here's an example exchange between Janell and I today while we were at work:

Janell: Hey are you coming over to watch the After the After the Final Rose Bachelor with me tonight so we can continue to point and laugh and crybaby Jason?

Sara: Yes, of course. I'm going to go swimming- are you going to run tonight or what?

Janell: Yeah I'm gonna run- you have fun swimming!

Sara: Oh I will- you go Janell- RUN YOUR HEART OUT! WE'RE NOT GIVING UP! Maybe we should have Blizzards for our last Bachelor episode?

Janell: Oh yeah, we for sure need Blizzards I'll pick em up- what kind do you want?

Sara: Butterfinger, natch. 

Janell: Too bad we're not as excited about running as we are about Blizzards

I've decided that for any future challenges and trials in my life, I'm going to have to make the reward come from Dairy Queen if I want to have any hope for success. 

So that's the status of your favorite marathonists... we'll keep you posted!

OH- and if you are some sort of athlete or know anyone who knows about injured calves and have any medical advice to share PLEASE feel free to comment! Because as this is my first experience with a sports-related injury, I'm clueless! 

Pressing On

Well, with just over a month left before the big day, Sara and I are starting to get a little nervous, I'm not gonna lie. Are our bodies really going to cooperate with us and run 13.1 miles??

Last night, we had to run 5 miles. We couldn't run together because of some prior commitments, so we ended up running at the Y at different times. I'll let Sara tell you about how her legs spazzed out, but it was not good. And my knees were not having it either. I ended up stopping after like 3.5 miles and walking the rest. Granted, we did run like 8 miles on Saturday, so maybe they were still a little jacked up from that, but I feel like it is too late in the game to be having these kind of issues.

I knew this running thing was a bad idea...


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm pressing on, pressing on, all my distress is going, going, gone.
And I won't sit back, and take this anymore.
'Cause I'm done with that, I've got one foot out the door.
And to go back where I was would just be wrong
I'm pressing on.
- Relient K

Eating cheesecake is kind of like running...

Ways eating cheesecake is like running:
1) Sugar gives you a high, running gives you a high.
2) Ok, that's all I got (I actually did sit here for a while and try to think of some others, but to no avail...)

I wish that was a longer list, because apparently Sara and I were much more agreeable to shopping and eating cheesecake than doing our measly 3 miles last night. In fact, there really hasn't been a whole lot of running taking place this week. Let me back up:

Sunday night, Sara came back from Temple and we had a great run (can't remember if it was 4 or 5 miles). Monday, of course, was The Bachelor and Blizzards. (By the way, we were a little concerned about what we would do with our Mondays in two weeks when The Bachelor is over, but luckily we saw a commercial during the show and decided that after March 2, Mondays would officially be dubbed Dancing With The Stars-Dairy Queen Mondays). I can't believe that Jason got rid of Jillian...RIDICULOUS!! And, not to get too far off on a Bachelor tangent, but if you want a MAJOR SPOILER for the finale, you should go to realitysteve.com. WARNING: DO NOT go there if you don't want to know EXACTLY what happens. And don't blame me if you ruin the surprise for yourself.

Ok, back to our week. Tuesday I woke up feeling super sick and ended up not going to work. Instead, I threw up and watched the entire 3rd season of The Office. Not a bad day, once the throwing up stopped, but I definitely wasn't feeling like running that evening. Sara killed her 5 miles though, even though Subway and Sonic were taunting her across the street. Wednesday we decided we needed a good cry and a counseling session over our Starbucks drinks instead of a good run, but we were confident we could knock out the 3 miles on Thursday.

Our original plan Thursday was to run right after work, then go shopping for a dress for my former roommate's wedding in a few weeks. But when we talked after work, we decided it would be dumb to run first, because then we would have to shower, and that wouldn't leave much time for shopping (And so began the excuses...). So we would run when we got done. What we did not expect was that we would arrive back at Randy and Sharon's just as they were serving dessert, which just so happened to be an amazing cheesecake with a berry glaze (made from a recipe they got from their last cruise). So before you make fun of us, just think about what you would do in that situation. CLEARLY, we chose the cheesecake. We probably still could have ran, but we stayed and chatted over our dessert, and then it was like 10 something, so I just went home.

So, needless to say, the week has not been great as far as running goes...actually it hasn't been great period (minus the cheesecake). Sometimes you just need a week like that. But we will get it back together for our long run this weekend (8 miles). Even though we are running separately, I think it will be a good run. Wish us luck!!

Break through!

Sara here! Alright folks- sorry about the long delay in posts. We HAVE been running diligently of course- keeping mostly on schedule :) but just haven't had too many exciting events to share really. On Tuesday we had to run separately, which is always sad- even SADDER when you get to the gym and realize that you are about to have to run five miles, by yourself, and your ipod is broken... which as I'm sure you've gathered, is what happened to me. But I was determined! I had five miles to run and I was NOT going to stop. So I watched Deal or No Deal while running which is a show I usually hate, but was surprisingly nice because you don't really need to hear the words for that show, so that took up 30 minutes of the hour it took me to run. For the rest of the hour I pretty much stared out the window at the Subway and Sonic across the street- what's wrong with these gym people? WHY would they allow there to be a window facing that way? I mean to be honest, I spent probably 3 of the 5 miles trying to figure out how I could justify stopping by Sonic on the way home for some tots and a cream slush. But I guess the food fantasies did help the time go by faster, so I can't really complain. In the end, I DID run the five miles without stopping which is a feat I had not yet mastered! So I was pretty pumped!

Yesterday... Janell and I both had pretty rough days so we debriefed at Starbucks instead of running... but we're making it up tonight. Tis but 3 miles... no problem! (NEVER thought I'd be saying that!) We are just over five weeks away from the race. It's becoming real. Not gonna lie- pretty nervous about it. But instead of focusing on how long 13 miles really is, we've begun to occupy ourselves with what new fit activity we're going to do after the Bearathon is over. (Thank you Baylor for your incessant use of "bear" and "paw" in all your events). We are thinking about going the triathlon route. NOT like the crazy ones where you do like 40 miles of biking and all that, but a shorter one. You know- just spice it up a bit! I mean we've obviously mastered running (HA) so what's swimming and biking? We'll see... I'm pretty sure we aren't going to MOVE much less swim or bike for at least two weeks after our race at the end of March. Perhaps we'll take up knitting instead. No way to know.

So that's the update for now... we'll let you know of any more injuries, star sightings, or additions to our ipods as they arise :) Happy Thursday!

And...we're back!!

Ok, I promise I am going to get going with this blog again. I had no idea how much time and energy it would take to handle a tiny little blind dog. I have cleaned up more poop and vomit in the last 2 and a half weeks than anyone should ever have to. But enough about that...

The running is going ok. As you already know, Sara had bronchitis for like the last week and a half. I chose to support her by also pretending like I had bronchitis and pretty much taking a whole week off from running. I mean, you're never supposed to leave your partner behind right? (Dang that just reminded me that I pre-ordered the Fireproof movie and I STILL haven't gone to pick it up...whoops!) So needless to say, when we picked the running back up on Tuesday, it did not go wonderfully. We were supposed to run 5 miles, but we managed only a measly 3.6 or so. But we knocked out our 3 miles last night like champs! And then I went home and ate like half a bag of Barbecue Lay's, which was probably a good idea. Oh well.

This weekend we have to run 9 miles!! I am a little nervous but excited about that. We might go to Town Lake. One time I saw Matthew McConaughey running there. If I'm lucky, he'll be there Saturday - that'll give me some motivation to run. :-) We also have tickets to see Legally Blonde tomorrow. I just found out that the girl who plays Elle got hurt, so the woman who originated the role of Elle on Broadway (Laura Bell Bundy) is going to be performing tomorrow!! So excited!

Ok, before I go, I want to leave you with this picture.

This was in Austin. Apparently, someone hacked into the construction signs. HILARIOUS! I wish I was that smart.

Bronchitis.... not the best motivation to run

So this weekend I contracted a somewhat severe case of bronchitis. I have had a pretty high fever off and on the past few days and have felt like a few trucks ran over me... repeatedly. As you can imagine, I have NOT kept up with the marathon training... we were supposed to run 7 miles on Saturday and like 5 on Sunday but I decided the best choice would be for me to lie on the couch (after I returned from the D-Now I was doing.. pretty sure I was NOT the most effective leader while hacking up my lungs!) and sleep/stare into space for two days. So now I'm behind at work, behind with school stuff, and definitely behind with running. I'm back at work today, but I don't think I'll be able to run today cause I still feel a bit like I'm swimming through life and can barely laugh without going into a coughing fit! BUT THE BRONCHITIS WILL NOT CONQUER ME! I WILL OVERCOME! **insert inspirational music and Sara/Janell running montage**. Just wanted to give all of our faithful blog groupies a bit of an update. My goal is to be running hard core again by Thursday or Friday... so we shall see!! 

Housesitting and Celebrity Sightings

Well, sorry for the lack of posts this week. It has been a little crazy. I am currently housesitting for a family that is on vacation with some friends of mine. They are on a cruise from New Zealand to Australia...SO JEALOUS. The fun part about all of this is that they have a blind dog named Princess (if that tells you anything) that I am taking care of. I will have some interesting stories about her later, but for now let's stick to the running.

Saturday we had our longest run thus far...6 miles. Just a little under halfway what we'll be doing in a couple of months. To make matters worse, Sara was in Waco for the weekend, so I had to run it alone. Blah. Saturday was also the day that Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo tickets went on sale. In my family, this is like 2nd in importance only to Opening Day of baseball season, so I knew I had to be done with my run and back at my apartment by 10 so I could get tickets to the shows me and my sisters wanted. So I woke up at like 8 and went to Old Settler's to run. It was actually a pretty good run. I finished it in just over an hour. And, of course, we got all of our rodeo tickets...looks like Sara will be seeing her first rodeo ever on March 20th!

Yesterday was just 4 miles, so Sara and I ran that in my new neighborhood. Then we went with her friend Erika to see Revolutionary Road. Leo and Kate were amazing, but I'm not sure I would recommend it. Pretty depressing. However, I did keep my celebrity-spotting streak alive (for those of you that don't know, I am notorious for running into celebrities - ask me about the time I chased 50 Cent through LaGuardia airport) when we were leaving the theater. There sitting at one of the tables in the lobby was THIS guy from Friday Night Lights (which just so happens to film in Austin) His name is Jesse Plemons.

I actually don't even watch that show, but I saw an interview on E! just a couple of days ago with him talking about the new season. So I am positive it was him. I should've gone up to him and taken a picture, but he was pretty deep in conversation with some girl. Oh well...better luck next time.

Well, I am really excited about this week, because I think we have to run 4 miles tomorrow, and on Wednesday, we only have to run 3!! I never thought I would be so excited about running 3 miles. What have I become???? But on Saturday, w have to run 7...AND I'm going to be at a D-Now in Highlands! So I guess I will be getting up early...my FAVORITE!

On a serious note, this running thing has given me a lot of perspective on my relationship with the Lord. I feel like sometimes I don't feel like I have the strength to deal with certain situations, and then I realize it's because I never asked for it. I just try to do it in my own strength. There have been times when I'm running, that I just want to stop and give up, because I don't think my body can handle it. But it's then that God reminds me that my BODY can handle it, it's my faith that can't. I simply need to ask for the faith to push myself. I think that applies to our everyday life as well...we don't push ourselves because we are afraid we will fail. When did we start making God so small?? Just something to think about.

Well, thanks to my new pad, Bachelor-Blizzard Monday will be in style for the next couple of weeks. :-) And if he does not get rid of crazy-stalker-Shannon this week, I may have to boycott!! Happy Monday!

VICTORY!

Man... am I PLEASED with tonight's outcome! So if you've been keeping up, you'll notice that Janell and I had some issues on Sunday... meaning we were pathetically dragging after a mere mile and a half. So after our rest day (complete with Bachelor and blizzards) we were a little scared to see how we would perform tonight. The assignment: 5 miles. We decided to run at night in my neighborhood again-- because hey, who doesn't love to run in 35 degree weather?? It wasn't too bad though, and there were a shocking amount of people out with their dogs, so we didn't feel too crazy. We definitely had a successful run- only stopping a couple times briefly to catch our breath (slash soothe our aching knees/achilles tendons-- Janell's having some odd ailments haha) and the rest of the time we kept a good pace- finishing our 5 miles just under an hour!! Hooray!!! And when we got back, Sharon (the lovely owner of the house I live in) made us some killer hot chocolate. So it was all worth it. Moral of today's story-- apparently carbs actually DO give you energy and don't just make you fat. SO if you're going to train for a marathon- or just run for 5 miles- GO EAT SOME BREAD! Tomorrow's another five. DANG- why'd I sign up for this? They just keep throwing these miles at me! But I'm optimistic... I see another victory in the cards for tomorrow. Until then...

The Hills Are Alive...

Ok, so something that is really important to me and Sara is music. In fact, when we are not running cheerfully through the woods, we spend a lot of time singing and helping with the choirs here at the children's home. So it is pretty important that we create a great playlist to listen to while we run. Granted, as much as possible, we run together, since that is way better than any playlist, but there are a lot of days when it is just me and the iPod.

The good news is that I broke down and bought my own iPod Shuffle. It had to be done, really. My gigantic freakin 160 GB iPod Video just wasn't cutting it on the runs. And the boys from my cottage were starting to get suspicious when I wouldn't return their Shuffles for days at a time. They are pretty smart for a bunch of 7-9 year olds - dang!

So, armed with my new Shuffle, it was time to weed through all of my 5876 songs and come up with a hundred and something to put on there. Here's the thing: to quote Whoopi Goldberg from the classic movie Sister Act 2 (haha), I am a pretty eclectic when it comes to my musical taste. I have everything from AC/DC to Steven Curtis Chapman to Akon to some lady singing classical music in French, and everything in between.

When I am running, the main thing I look for in music is something that I can sing to and that really pumps me up. I have found that I either need something extremely spiritually encouraging (a la "Precious Lord, Take My Hand" or"Mighty to Save"), or something extremely lame that I can rock out to (a la "We are the Champions" or "Eye of the Tiger").

So here is a little taste of what's playing when I'm running:

"Here Comes the Hotstepper" by Ini Kamoze - You may not think you know this song, but trust me, you do. (Here comes the hotstepper, murderer, I'm the lyrical gangster, murderer, Excuse me, Mr. Officer...) I mean, it doesn't make much sense, but if that doesn't put you in a good mood, come on...

"Let God Arise" and "Sing, Sing, Sing" by Chris Tomlin - Both of these are on the Passion "God of this City" CD. I cannot get enough of it!! So good!

"Precious Lord, Take My Hand/Just a Closer Walk With Thee" by Selah - In my opinion, the greatest recording of either of these songs. Plus the lyrics ("I am tired, I am weak, I am worn," "I am weak, but Thou art strong") seem pretty appropriate.

"Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)" by Beyonce - This is a great song. Bonus: I always picture the SNL spoof with Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg dancing behind Beyonce in leotards and high heels...if you haven't seen it, google it. HILARIOUS.

"I Can't Get Next To You" by The Temptations - Another great classic song...bonus points to the person who can tell me what movie this makes me think of. (Hint: it was filmed in Texas)

"Shackles" by Mary Mary feat. Kirk Franklin - mostly because when I am running, I feel like I have actual shackles on my feet that I need God to remove.

"The World's Greatest" by R. Kelly - because hey, the truth is the truth

"The Thong Song" by Sisqo - first of all, haters, let me say that this is the edited version...but honestly, I love this song. It reminds me of my senior year of high school, and it pretty much just makes me happy...

"In Me" by Casting Crowns - Although this is not the most upbeat song in the world, this is a song that has been a huge encouragement to me in life in general, so I thought I would apply it to running as well. (My favorite lyrics : "When I'm weak, You make me strong. When I'm blind, You shine Your light on me. 'Cause I'll never get by living on my own ability...so I'll stand on Your truth and I'll fight with Your strength, 'til You bring the victory by the power of Christ in me")

"Rhythm in Me" and "The Miracle Song" from the Altar Boyz soundtrack - I saw this show the last time I was in New York, and I am pretty much in love with this CD. I highly recommend you check it out.

"I Run To You" by Plus One, "Ready to Run" by the Dixie Chicks, and "Run to You" by Whitney Houston - because come on, running puns are funny.

"Footloose" by Kenny Loggins - Who doesn't love Kevin Bacon?? (Side note - did you hear they are doing a remake of this with Zac Efron??)

"We Are The Champions" and "We Will Rock You" by Queen - it had to be done

"Joyful, Joyful" from the Sister Act 2 soundtrack - yes, I have the soundtrack (SHUT UP)...I already told you, this is a classic in my book. :-)

"Everything" by Michael Buble - I like to pretend he is running alongside and serenading me.

"O Sifuni Mungu" by UMHB's One Voice circa 2001-2002 - only a few of you will appreciate the significance of this one, but I used to love to hear them sing this in college. I mean it's not every day that you get to hear Spencer sing in Swahili.

"That's Not My Name" by The Ting Tings - This is quite possibly the dumbest and the most fabulous song all rolled into one.

"Defying Gravity" from the Wicked soundtrack - "and if I'm flying solo, (which I very well may be by the end of the race), at least I'm flying free..."

"Marvelous Light" by Charlie Hall - this one talks about running into marvelous light, which I'm pretty sure is referring to heaven or the Lord or something like that. For this purpose, however, I am seeing it more like a "light at the end of the tunnel" kind of thing.

"Heart Over Head Over Heels" by Clay Walker - Any song with the lyrics "you throw me girl like a tumbleweed on a Tilt-A-Whirl" can't be wrong.

"Some Days You Gotta Dance" by the Dixie Chicks - because, let's face it, some days you really do. (that one's for you, Jen :-) )

"It's Good To Be Alive" by Geoff Moore and the Distance - I have a feeling I am going to need a reminder somewhere around mile 11 or so.

So that is just a snippet of what I am working with music-wise. Feel free to add any of your own suggestions in the comments section. I still have 10 and a half LONG weeks to go.

Happy Trails!

Smack!!

Well, it is safe to say that we have hit our first wall (thus the "Smack!"). Maybe it is just our bodies' way of saying, "Don't get too confident with this whole running thing, because I can and WILL shut down on you if I feel like it."
It happened yesterday. We had a mere 4 miles to run and we were not too concerned about that, given we had ran 5 on Saturday without too many problems. We decided to go run it at Old Settler's, since it was a pretty easy run (minus all the dogs). We took off with no problems, then about a mile, mile and a half in, we both felt like we were going to die. And not in the usual way, where you just chalk it up to the fact that you are actually running and keep going until you feel ok again. More like we HAD to stop or we might collapse and roll into the cactus strategically placed on the side of the trail. So we decided to take a short walk break and pick it back up like usual. We started running again after 30 seconds or a minute or so, but about 5 minutes later, it happened again. We were attempting to play the question game, and I couldn't even give my answer because I was concentrating too hard on breathing (=not dying). So we slowed down again, and picked it back up. After doing this a couple more times, we just decided to walk for a little bit. It was at this point that I noticed that my HANDS WERE SWELLING. What the?? That had never happened to me before, and it's not like we were running 20 miles or anything. So anyone who reads this and knows what that means, feel free to leave me a comment. I am thinking maybe it was because I didn't eat much for breakfast or lunch...like a blood sugar issue or something. Help me out, nurse Kristi!

Anyway, so we walked/ran until we finished our 4 miles, even though we were pretty discouraged. I figure this is just a part of it, but I'm going to have to figure this hand swelling thing out...so weird.

The good news is that, not only is it a rest day, it's also Bachelor-Blizzard Monday!! Can't wait!

Sara reporting...

Well today I rolled out of bed at 9:00am- not my ideal wake up time for a Saturday-- especially when I know the next thing I have to do is go run five miles. But nevertheless, I slipped on that trusty spandex (which I NEVER thought I would own!) grabbled the ole pedometer and Janell and I headed out to Brushy Creek for our five mile stint today. We arrived at the trail and headed out in the BITING cold to once again pose as runners among the 85 year olds and women with strollers who speed past us. Today was a little rough, I'm not gonna lie to you. Who knew that a hilly terrain in 40 degree weather would be so different than the climate-controlled 0.0 inclined treadmill at the Y with a TV and iPod to distract me? Bizarre. We started to implement the question game during our run in order to make the time go by faster. It's no code people, we just ask each other random questions. I would recommend this activity to anyone who finds themselves counting down the seconds until you can justify taking a walk break. It really did help the run go by faster and we learned random facts about each other too!

When I got back home from the run I started looking up what it really means to "carb load" before the marathon. I mean that's why we're doing this right? So we can eat a HUGE pasta dinner the night before guilt-free? Apparently not. I received some distressing news as I surfed the web and found out that "marathonists" (how do you get dubbed that?? can I refer to myself as that? I probably will from now on- just so you all know.) consider major carb loading before a run to be a hinderance. The pasta sits in your stomach causing you to be lethargic instead of providing extra energy. You're just supposed to maintain your same diet for the whole week. WHAT?! That's ridiculous. Sigh. Well the article said NOTHING against blizzards on rest days, so I guess I'll just cling to that.

Janell and I totalled up our total running for the week : 20 miles, baby! Pretty sure that's the total number of miles I had run in my LIFE until this past month. If we can do it-- ANYONE CAN! : )

Update

Well, I am still new to all this blog junk, but I went back and added some pictures and stuff to some of my previous posts. I am going to keep messing with stuff and hopefully, this thing will be looking a lot better soon.
I also added Sara as a contributor to the blog, so she can share things from her perspective.
We are running Brushy Creek tomorrow. I'll let you know how that goes. Happy Friday!