Mentally I was really sharp today.  I knew I could keep going, I knew I could push myself today.  I knew I could run 5 miles.  It’s amazing how much of running is a mental game.

My feet couldn’t take two more miles on the pavement, so I ran the last two miles on the grassy soccer field.  That last half mile my legs felt a little like jelly.  But I DID IT!!!  It felt so awesome!

But I was determined to go the whole time today.  I prayed for help, and I got it.  I actually woke up late, 7:30.  We needed to be at the bus stop by 8:15.  I was able to get ready in 15 minutes.  I kept a prayer in my heart as I woke up the boys.  At first they didn’t want to wake up, but I told them that we were going to church.  They enjoy church, but they were REALLY excited to go today.  They were so good, quickly getting dressed.  We got to the bus stop at 8:20.  I was worried that we had missed the bus.  But a few minutes later our bus pulled up.

We got to church 5 minutes early!

I stayed with the boys during Sharing Time but I talked them into going to Sunday School without me.  It was nice to go to my class.

The boys were good during Sacrament, they got a little rowdy the last 10 minutes, but nothing big.

It felt SO GREAT to be able to go to the full block of church.  I feel like I’ve been bathed in the Spirit, and I’m loving it!

I was talking to James the other day about running and he mentioned something about not forcing it, just run like you’re being dragged along and you’re doing the bare minimum to keep up.  Meaning, don’t waste your energy on stomping your feet and swinging around your arms.

Anyway, when I was running and I started to feel like I wanted to stop, I imagined that I had a rope tied around my waist and someone was pulling me along.

I ran until the end of my music, which is 40 minutes.  I was so excited.  I felt great too.  I didn’t feel very tired either.  It was great!!

I know what you’re thinking…”you listen to kids tunes while you run?”

But they’re really fun upbeat songs with a great tempo.  The tempo doesn’t change too much from song to song either.  So it’s like an upbeat metronome, helping me keep a good pace.  (Also, these aren’t your everyday kids songs either, they beat the heck out of Barney!)

I downloaded it from iTunes (comes with music videos too.  The kids love them.)  But I know you can get it from Amazon.com too

Check it out!

I turned on my running music and got started.  When I got to a mile I was surprised, because I felt like I had just started.  I easily ran a second a mile, (which was about 20 minutes).  I walked the third mile.

I was so excited to find out that I had been running two miles for the last week!

I’ve been having sore knees from running, it’s mostly because I haven’t bought fancy shoes yet.  But I decided to try running bare foot yesterday.

It was so great!  I ran for 20 minutes strait, only the second time I’ve done that.  It reminded me of running around bare foot as a kid.

I looked up the date for the half marathon the other day, November 6th.  I decided that whether I’m in Utah or not, I’m going to run 13.1 miles on Nov 6th.  That has really helped to keep me motivated.  Because now I’m doing it for myself.

I tried waking up early, before the kids woke up.  But then I remembered that I’m NOT a morning person.

I tried running in the evening after the kids were in bed.  But some days I was too tired to go running.

I’ve been running at the little soccer field which is right next to the park near our house.  So last week I decided to take the kids with me.  I’ve been going around 9:30am before it gets too hot.  It’s been great!

Before:

After:

I always change the themes around a little.  But these are the most changes I’ve made so far.  I think it turned out really good to.

The answer?  Yes and no.

I got de-railed during the holidays and gained some weight which bummed me out.  I didn’t feel like doing anything for a few weeks, including running.

I started running for a few days then I tripped over one of the kids bikes and sprained my ankle.  Over the last week I’ve started walking again.  My ankle isn’t up to par for running yet, but I’ve got my finger’s crossed for next week.