The Running Chronicles
Friends, I hope you are all having a beautiful Tuesday so far! Can you believe we're already 5 days into February? Where does time go? Since I've graduated from college I feel like time just goes on and on and on and on. I thought about it the other day, and technically, I could be working my same job and living in Durham for the rest of my life. And that very well could happen, and it very well could not. But it is daunting to think that things could go on as they are now for years of my life, and there's no more "Christmas breaks" or "summer vacations" or anything of the sort. There are vacations when I request them, and so time can be broken up in that way, but otherwise, it just seems like it goes on and on. Do any of you ever have this thought? Particularly, recent graduates? I know many of my friends have plans to go back to graduate school, and that may well be in my future, though I haven't completely decided yet. Time is just so confusing to me. How can it seem to go on forever yet also seem to fly by so quickly at the same time?
Anyways, I believe I promised you we'd chat about half marathon training. So, as I mentioned in my post on Sunday (2013 Forecast), my running journey began about 2.5 years ago after spending many years despising the activity. I've trained for half marathons before (this blog used to log my mileage and document my journey, if you look back to previous posts), but I have never actually run in one! Scott and I began our running journey together in May of 2010 when he briefly lived in Chapel Hill for a summer. It's one of the only times that we've ever dated while living in the same town, and it was such an incredible growing experience for our relationship. Running together, too, was an incredible growing experience for us. At first, I didn't like it. He's a boy, he's competitive.. and I am not. But then it became a time when we could talk about our days, meet challenges together, and encourage one another on longer runs. And I have missed that ever since. I really can not wait until we live in the same place and can run, cook, eat, shop, and go to church together.
But I've digressed AGAIN! I need someone monitoring me at all times when I write. This is quite absurd. The point I was trying to make was actually that Scott & I were training for a half together until he got an injury playing basketball. He was unable to do much of anything in terms of exercise for several weeks (possibly months, I can't even remember at this point). The plan was to train the following year for the Wilmington Battleship 1/2 marathon, but lo and behold, my boy went off to pursue his dreams of being a dentist in Indiana. So our half marathon hasn't happened yet, and I've kind of held onto hope that the first one I run would be with him. And now, it looks like it just might be! We've signed up for the OneAmerica 500 Series Mini Marathon (!!) on May 4th in Indianapolis. Scott's birthday is May 7th so I'm hoping to be able to visit for a few days and stick around for his birthday.
In any case, I've been training and so far have made it up to 6 miles. My mental trick for getting me through my long runs is telling myself that it's just one more mile than the previous week, and can't I endure for just one more mile? Surely, I can. So today is supposed to be my 7 miler. We'll see how THAT goes, considering I work night shift tonight and did Body Pump yesterday, leaving my body feeling like it could fall to pieces at any moment.
I looked back at a post from when I was first training for a half marathon, and I quite enjoyed seeing my 8 Mile post. My running journey has very much been centered around relying on Jesus and His strength to keep me going when my body feels weak. I used to listen to rap music when I ran because it was just fast and loud and easy to run to, but lately I've actually been listening to a playlist I made called "Running: Jesus Jams." It's got lots of Passion music, stuff I've heard and loved on K-love, and worship songs I loved when I was younger. It's so crazy how running for me has now become a time of worship and a time when I turn to God for strength. Running outdoors also gives me an opportunity to marvel at the beauty of His creation and all that He has blessed me with.
So, there's my running update. Will 7 miles happen today? Only time will tell. I'm currently getting ready to go BACK to sleep to prepare for my night shift tonight, and hopefully I will take up in a few hours rejuvenated for my run.
Love to you all,
Cristina
Anyways, I believe I promised you we'd chat about half marathon training. So, as I mentioned in my post on Sunday (2013 Forecast), my running journey began about 2.5 years ago after spending many years despising the activity. I've trained for half marathons before (this blog used to log my mileage and document my journey, if you look back to previous posts), but I have never actually run in one! Scott and I began our running journey together in May of 2010 when he briefly lived in Chapel Hill for a summer. It's one of the only times that we've ever dated while living in the same town, and it was such an incredible growing experience for our relationship. Running together, too, was an incredible growing experience for us. At first, I didn't like it. He's a boy, he's competitive.. and I am not. But then it became a time when we could talk about our days, meet challenges together, and encourage one another on longer runs. And I have missed that ever since. I really can not wait until we live in the same place and can run, cook, eat, shop, and go to church together.
But I've digressed AGAIN! I need someone monitoring me at all times when I write. This is quite absurd. The point I was trying to make was actually that Scott & I were training for a half together until he got an injury playing basketball. He was unable to do much of anything in terms of exercise for several weeks (possibly months, I can't even remember at this point). The plan was to train the following year for the Wilmington Battleship 1/2 marathon, but lo and behold, my boy went off to pursue his dreams of being a dentist in Indiana. So our half marathon hasn't happened yet, and I've kind of held onto hope that the first one I run would be with him. And now, it looks like it just might be! We've signed up for the OneAmerica 500 Series Mini Marathon (!!) on May 4th in Indianapolis. Scott's birthday is May 7th so I'm hoping to be able to visit for a few days and stick around for his birthday.
In any case, I've been training and so far have made it up to 6 miles. My mental trick for getting me through my long runs is telling myself that it's just one more mile than the previous week, and can't I endure for just one more mile? Surely, I can. So today is supposed to be my 7 miler. We'll see how THAT goes, considering I work night shift tonight and did Body Pump yesterday, leaving my body feeling like it could fall to pieces at any moment.
I looked back at a post from when I was first training for a half marathon, and I quite enjoyed seeing my 8 Mile post. My running journey has very much been centered around relying on Jesus and His strength to keep me going when my body feels weak. I used to listen to rap music when I ran because it was just fast and loud and easy to run to, but lately I've actually been listening to a playlist I made called "Running: Jesus Jams." It's got lots of Passion music, stuff I've heard and loved on K-love, and worship songs I loved when I was younger. It's so crazy how running for me has now become a time of worship and a time when I turn to God for strength. Running outdoors also gives me an opportunity to marvel at the beauty of His creation and all that He has blessed me with.
So, there's my running update. Will 7 miles happen today? Only time will tell. I'm currently getting ready to go BACK to sleep to prepare for my night shift tonight, and hopefully I will take up in a few hours rejuvenated for my run.
Love to you all,
Cristina
Some super fly pics post-run. The top one is my 5k with
my roommate Jessica from this past fall, the middle is from a
10K in Wilmington with my friends Brad & Rebecca last spring, and
the bottom is a super not cute one from a 5K I did over a year ago in Chapel Hill.
Hopefully I'll have a half marathon one to post with a medal and all soon!
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