Preparing for Princesses!

I have been breaking out the scrapbooks and home videos lately as the anniversary of my first marathon is coming up here in another week. I remember all the hard training runs, the research and the questions I asked of my sanity while I spent a year and a half training for this race. However, I still have very fond memories of my race through Disney. If you would like to see it, check out my video below!

I'm wishing everyone who is running this year lots of love and hopes for a very special and fun day!

Meanwhile, I am preparing for my own very special race in mid-Febuary...the Glass Slipper Challenge at Princess Half Marathon Weekend! I'm very excited as I am actually going to run the 10K with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. It's their first 10K! I got to run the Houston Turkey Trot with my sister-in-law this past Thanksgiving, and it was so much fun!

So for the 10K we all four of us are picking our favorite princesses and I chose Rapunzel! I found a $5 clearance running shirt at Walmart. Then I broke out the sewing machine and added some cute little touches that helped turn this shirt into my favorite running costume piece I've made so far! The lace and gold trim was a bit difficult to sew on all together, but I think it turned out really well! 

Add in some hair clips I made with flowers, a braid and pascal...and I'm set! I'm still debating on taking a frying pan with me. I'm wondering if TSA will give me a hard time about it on my carry on!

I'll go over my costume for the half marathon on the next blog! 

Talk to y'all soon!

Maddie

I'm back!

Hello everyone! I'm back!!

It's just a little over a month since my family and I conquered our first marathon! I'm still processing everything that happened. It still hasn't sunk in that I did it. But I can now say I'm officially a marathoner!

Reflecting back, there are a few things that stand out. First off, I love my family. I love how we navigate traveling challenges, hotel room situations (my brother ended up sleeping in the kitchenette on a blow up mattress!) app glitches and logistics issues. I wouldn't say this was our smoothest trip to Disney, but I certainly had so much fun!

I would say that my family is just out of practice in going to Disney (It had been eight years since our last trip!). Then, add in the new magic bands and our whole method of touring the parks just simply didn't work. We used to rule the fastpass kiosks, had an order to which rides to go on in order to reduce wait times and we used to nap in the afternoons when things were the most crowded. With having to fit in the expo, the new fastpass + system constantly glitching, and running, we were basically doing the opposite of we were used to. I think this caught me off guard a ton. I was constantly trying to figure out what the best thing to do as far as touring the parks was while learning a new system on the fly.

I'd also say, the marathon had us worried for a good portion of the vacation. We had to tour the parks before the marathon if my brother wanted to do any of Disney (boo college!). This had us logging several miles walking when we should have been resting before the marathon. I don't suggest this! We were constantly battling enjoying the theme parks with trying to conserve energy. While I'm used to being on my feet all day, it was still taking a toll. Our feet hurt just standing waiting for the race to start.

Yet, all the bad things aside, I love that my family made the most of it. We LOVE roller coasters and riding our favorites again as a family made this trip so much fun! We even had a poncho day! It was so amazing to watch my family bond and hang out together and made my heart so happy!

Then there was the marathon! I was fighting back tears before the race even began. I couldn't believe I had made it to the start line! Jared and I ran the whole race together! We took it nice and slow, enjoying the sights, running together and taking pictures. One thing that bugged me for a while was that I didn't make it to the finish line at my 5 hour goal mark. What was the point of all that training if I didn't make it? But when I sat back and thought about it, I realized that I traded that goal in order to have the fun with my family in the parks before hand and enjoy the race with my husband during. No hour on a time is worth the memories that came with the rest of the vacation!

So all in all, it was a great vacation. I loved spending time with my family. I loved it that we accomplished a ginormous feat! I loved wearing our shiny medals around the parks after and most of all, I loved the season of life.

Check out Jared and I's race here!

We Get Permission to Fail!

I had the most interesting experience yesterday. We had a run scheduled (Tempo Intervals: 2000m with a 400m recovery three times in case anyone was really wondering). I laced up my kicks and grabbed my dog and my husband and I hit the pavement. But as we made it to the park, we found it incredibly crowded! Families of all sizes were out with their shiny new bikes and scooters. Puppies were being walked. Kids were playing in the trails. Soccer games were being played. It was beautiful. I didn't mind that I had to run on the grass often. I was just glad to see everyone out enjoying a beautiful day instead of watching TV on their couches.

We even saw one of my best friends Ashely! You may have heard how awesome she is in an earlier blog post. She was out running too and I was so glad to give her a big sweaty hug! We briefly talked (we're on our runs right?) and as we left, she announced, "Professional runners! Coming through!"

We laughed and I assured her, she's a professional too. But I started looking around and realizing many people out here are starting their "New Years Fitness Plan." They are going to ride their bike, run or walk x amount of days in a week and lose x amount of pounds. My beat up kicks were looking pretty worn out compared to some of the white new sneakers some people were wearing. What started whirring in my head is the question.

"If this is what people's new year resolutions are, how long will it last?"

I have felt different come this new years. I am not starting a new fitness plan, but cumulating a year and a half of training for a marathon. I'm on my third pair of sneakers and the new ones are already not new. And I didn't start this goal at the new year of 2012. I started it in August. Which makes no sense if you know about the heat in Texas in August.

But I stuck with it. So what was it that kept me working a year and a half later to get me to this point? As I mulled it over, I felt like it might help someone out there.

1. I felt that this journey was a calling from Jesus. You may think I'm crazy for saying that. But if you have read my past blog posts, you will realize that I've held this belief from the beginning. I believe that after thinking so negatively for so long, God challenged me to try. He gave me all the equipment I need...I just needed to trust him and go do it.

For once in my life I had goals. It gave me purpose and direction. That purpose and direction in my physical life overflowed into every other aspect of my life. It's a strange, supernatural phenomena. But because I listened to God in my fitness, I was able to hear him more clearly in the rest of my life. What I found is that Jesus gave us a purpose to live, no matter what area of life we are talking about. Jesus said trust Him and and love people. As I ran and wondered what I was doing, I decided to trust God and pray for people that I passed. I found that to be key to keeping me running and key to me making progress in every other goal I've made in day to day life.

2. It's ok not to be perfect. In the past I've made new years resolutions and when I fail on doing it perfectly, I give up all together. When people create art, do you think they do it perfectly from beginning to end? Of course not. That's why we have erasers for pencils and the ability to paint over things! But if an artist gave up the moment they made a mistake on their art pieces, they would never finish some of the beautiful artwork that inspires us today. In fact, some of the mistakes become inspirations to take the art to a totally higher level than they were expecting.

When I train, I don't do all my workouts! I miss some because life happens. I have found it key to forgive myself for missing a workout and getting right back on the workout wagon whenever I can to making sure I stick with my training plan and complete my goals.

What's even better, is that the Bible tells us that we have hope that God will forgive our sins. If you truly trust in Jesus, we can have full confidence that when we fail fighting sin and bad patterns in our lives (that we try to correct with new years resolutions), it will be forgiven and we can start again! The freedom to fail gives us the hope to fight against the sinful parts of our lives!

3. Christ will help us in our fight...if we ask him. I remember some of the early runs and I'm dying at the end. My legs are spent and I can't breathe. I used to repeat over and over in my head "I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me."And you know, I made it through the run. Ironically, I do the same thing whether it's a three mile run or a twenty mile run. I hold the same conviction that Jesus is the source of my hope and my faith and He supernaturally helps in one way or another.

When we come across times where we can't seem to break cycles or the running gets tough or a relationship seems eternally broken, we can ask for help. If we trust God and love people and truly believe that as sons and daughters of Christ that our sins are forgiven, the supernatural will occur in our lives and we will see Christ come through in the fight.

So as you make your resolutions (and I think you should) I hope that you think about the fact that you are launching into something that hopefully, you can sustain longer than just a year. Hopefully, you can trust God to guide you and to build upon your faithfulness.

And remember, 2 Timothy says that even if we are unfaithful, God remains faithful because he cannot deny himself!

Happy New Year everyone.

Things I've Learned From My Dog

She's cuddly. She's furry. She begs for all of my food. She's my loveable, adorable dog.

But the story of what I've learned from Duchess, goes way further back. Back to before I even was thinking where I'd go to college or who I'd marry.

My mom got me involved in dance. I think the incessant dancing naked around the house with my towel as my cape after baths (while listening to Disney songs) tipped her off about my love for dance. That love for dance turned into dance class almost every day of the week, for about two or three hours each day. Even though I constantly looked at the clock during class to see when it was time to go, I think this exercise routine really prepped my body for doing high intensity workouts for long periods of time.

After I had to quit dance due to my over-commitment to extra curricular activities, I still exercised. While band required me to spend two hours every day in the sun, I began to get involved in running. I had always wanted to be a runner. But when I'd go try to reenact my Pocahontas "Colors of the Wind" routine, I'd always be winded just by running a few steps. Back then, 10 minutes of running/walking around the small pond was, in my opinion, a difficult workout. I'd do Pilates, kickboxing with mom, walking and weight lifting, but running was always my secret ambition.

College brought along sporadic running with my roommates, but nothing to really be consistent about. And with busy schedules during the summer of my junior and senior year, exercise had really fallen off the radar. It was an occasional blip on the horizon.

So when we got Duchess, we knew that she would be a big ball of energy. I mean, just look at her when she was a puppy!

She's 10 weeks old in this picture!

It was love at first sight!

Jared and Duchess playing!

But I was excited about her being a giant fluffy energy ball. I knew that it was going to force me to take her on walks and be active. I wanted to get back to being active and moving! But when we took her on these walks, we quickly realized this husky/lab pup liked walks. But what she really loved, was running.

So as she got older, Jared and I started an exercise routine with her. We would go run in the neighborhood, working on just being able to run a mile without walking. Duchess would be so happy on runs. Even today, she gets so excited she just pulls us along. We just have to move our feet to go forward. She thinks she's a sled dog. She loves it when we run "in formation" with her in front and dead center of Jared and I. When it's just Duchess and I, she loves running right beside me.

I'm often chasing these two on our runs!

But as my dream for running a marathon grew, she became a part of that training process. When I wanted to just sit on the couch, she would be so disappointed if we didn't get out there and run.

Mom? Are we going running today?

She's so excited to go running!

She trained right along side me. We started out with those 30 second intervals a year and a half ago, and now she's doing up to 10 miles with me in the blistering 32 degree winter wind (5 if it's hot!). We come home from those long runs, and she wants to play as if we didn't just cover some serious milage!

She's post-run cooling in front of the fan...

...five minutes later, she wants to play!

Tug of war is her favorite!

What I've learned from her is that running is supposed to be fun. When we first start to run, she looks back at me with that little happy trot and it's like she's telling me this is the best thing ever! She's become the best running buddy ever. She loves to run so much, it makes me smile and makes those long, solo runs more enjoyable.

Post run shenanigans in the car!

Second thing I've learned from her, is to see the world with wonder. We almost always see a bobcat or armadillo on our runs (sometimes raccoons!) and she thinks these animals are new found friends. She gets to excited to try to meet them. Poor dog doesn't realize that's not a good idea, but that's not the point. Even if it's a person on rollerblades, she thinks every new thing is a fantastic, new experience and she gets so excited to meet new people and do new things.

That leads me into the next thing I've learned from Duchess. She loves people. She's learned to "defend the fortress" when we are home, but she loves meeting all the people we pass in the parks and loves kids! We often stop and let kids pet her and she gets so many compliments from people passing by on how pretty she is. I wish I could love people as unconditionally as her.

Turkey Trot this year, she's wondering when we can start running and meeting new dogs!

So as we are in the final preparations of our marathon training and in the peak week with our 20 mile run (that she won't get to join us on) I have to say I love this dog. She's an amazing friend and companion through all the crazies of life. She has taught me so much about running and loving people. She's become the catalyst to help me dream and stick to my marathon training when I wanted to quit. I wish I could give her a medal or something for all the miles she's put in with me. But let's be honest. She's a dog. And I think she would rather just have me take her out on a bonus run as a reward. :)

Tangled Dreams

So in anticipation of our Disney run coming up (wohoo WDW Marathon!) Jared and I have been getting into the mood by watching some of our favorite Disney movies...including some ones that we are a little bit behind on, and hadn't watched yet.

One of those was Tangled. Let me say, it's my new favorite!

First off, this girl has as many hobbies as I do!

She reads more than I do!

Her mom lets her paint on the wall too!

She knits! Needless to say, I never had a chameleon sitting in my knitting...

So within 10 minutes of the movie, I'm already in love with this girl. I've been described by others as ...mmmmmm.... passionate. I have so many emotions. When they come up though, they are super extreme.

First thrill of leaving the tower!

Then, she starts feeling guilty about lying.

But then she's elated and running around! I love Flynn's expression in this picture!

Then she is at a low point again, feeling like the worst daughter ever.

Next moment she's swinging from the tree singing, "BEST DAY EVER!!!!"

Then she's face down feeling like a despicable human being...

I feel like this explains Jared and I's relationship pretty well. I go all extreme, and he just bears with me! Talk about true love!

But despite the love story, the happily ever after, the witty points of the creators in the movie, the dramatic death with the extra-dramatic bringing back to life moment... I feel there is one moment in this movie where it is the most tender, the most simple and the most profound.

Right before she is about to see the lanterns, Rapunzel is worried. When Flynn asks what's wrong, she says she's terrified. What if her dream isn't everything she hoped for? Or worse...what if it is? What then?

As a dreamer, I've often had this moment. I've been dreaming about running the Disney marathon. I often have the fear that I go through all this training, put in the hours and the miles (and my mom's money since it's my birthday, Christmas, and birthday gift all combined) and it's not everything I dreamed of. What if something goes wrong? What if I get injured or sick and can't race? What if I can't finish?

I had this line of thinking with my wedding day. After the waiting and the planning and the anticipation, what if it wasn't everything I dreamed of? I've had this moment in ministry. Planning events and hoping for people to come. What if they don't? What happens if nobody comes or cares?

Flynn tells Rapunzel that this moment with them in the boat watching the lanterns will be everything that she dreams of. And I think this is important. If we focus on the negative points, we will never enjoy the moment that we have been waiting for. We will never be free to just enjoy it. Then, he says something very profound. Once you've lived your dream, you get to go find a new one!

Marathoners often experience Post-Marathon-Syndrome. They've worked so hard towards this marathon that in the aftermath, they start looking around and go, "Ok. Did that. What now?" Newlyweds often have Post-Wedding-Syndrome, where now that the hype of the wedding is over, they look at each other and go, "Now what?" New moms can have Post-Baby-Depression (there's a clinical term for that which I'm blanking on right now) where they have anticipated this baby and now that it's here, they go, "What do I do with this thing???"

But here's the deal. If our dreams and desires are in line with God's heart and His plan, our moments where dreams are realized are going to be way more amazing than we could have ever dreamed. Earlier I wrote a blog about the garage sale I did for my kids. All that work and stress and God blessed it three times over what I was hoping and dreaming for. Then, God gave me new dreams and gave me the directions on where to take them. This past week has been one that I have been really doubting the dreams. I've been doubting if they would come true at all. If they did, would they will be everything I hoped for?

But the truth is, I've seen God work in my life. I've seen him bring dream after dream to life and he has never failed to give me a dream that he wouldn't work out in it's due time.

So today I want to encourage you, never stop dreaming! Ask God to give you dreams and desires that fall into his heart. Give up ok, self made dreams for great, God given ones. Don't give up hope on your God given dreams, and when doubt comes, trust in Him to bring you through.

And then when it happens, we will all look like this, entering the Kingdom of God!

At this point in the movie, Jared looks over and says, "You didn't tell me they filmed you going into Disney World!!"

Have a great rest of your day!! Love you all!