First of MANY Very wet runs, and a few tidbits of inspiration:)

This morning I was awoken by a little wisper in my ear saying "mommy, I had a bad dream"....I grabbed my beautiful 7 yr old girl and pulled her into bed with me. I snuggled her tight, told her mommy was here and she was safe and rubbed her warm little back. After about 10min i tucked her back into her bed. That was at 6am. (I s houldnt' have stayed up til midnight).
Next, my little 4yr old monkey came in at 6:30 saying "mommy, I'm Hungy"......I managed to convince her to go play so I could sleep the last 15min before my alarm went off at 6:45.

I got up at 6:50 and I could hear the sound of torrential down pours outside.
I say to myself "It is just rain. Water never killed anyone". The alternative is the Treadmill and we are not getting along right now....so I put on my 2 layers of clothes.....a hat, 2 hoods, gloves etc...and was out the door.

I wish someone was there to take a picture so I could remember this day...but this was the closest I could find that resembled what my 65minutes and 8 miles in the rain and hard wind looked like this morning:

Half the side walks were flooded and I was drenched before I even got to mile 2:)

I couldn't help but think of the morning though...my sweet little baby girls, upcoming thanksgiving..and ALL that I have been blessed with.
I couldn't help but think of GOD....the creator of ALL things...of ALL the elements......even the Wind and the Rain. If I can run on a beautiful sunny summer morning and see his beauty...why can't I see his beauty on a day like this? so I did. I felt so grateful to be out there. I'm not saying I will feel like this on ALL the wet rainy weather days...I'm sure some days I will loath it, but today I just felt thankful. I thought about the people who don't have legs or arms or are disabled. I was running to show the Lord how thankful I am for the body I have and for the blessed opportunity I have to run, b/c it is what I CHOOSE to do. No one tells me I have to do it. No one calls to wake me up in the morning...and the same goes for YOU.
we get up b/c we WANT to:) it is a privilidge.

I found a few things on Pinterest that I really connected with.
Here they are:

This one I loved b/c I have had to have this little talk with myself SO many times!. 

 Oh...this is my very favorite so far. I REALLY connected with this. Isn't this why we run? b/c 

we want to be OUR best.....how many of us run b/c we want to "Beat" so-and-so? probably none of us. 

what would be the point ? the challenge is to overcome our own nature to give up...to fight through the pain

and then relish in the victory that WE.DIDN'T.QUIT.

love it.

And this...well this just makes me want to cry. 

I am so inspired whenever I see an overweight person out running...I always want to run up to them and hug them and say "you're doing it! way to go!! Keep going! don't give up!". 

5K RACE thoughts:

So John asked me what my goal was for this race on Thursday and I told him I thought I could do about 20:30-20:40  BUT I would LOVE to run a 19:59;).....we all have our dream goals right?:)

He said he thought 20min was  a good goal to aim for and that this race is really just to give us an idea of what my paces should be for my interval workouts for Boston training. No pressure and not that big of a deal. goal paces he gave me were:

 Mile 1 : 6:30

Mile 2: 6:25

Mile 3: 6:20

(uuhh..I haven't even run ONE 6:25 or 6:20 mile in over 6mos:):) lol

So here's the dealio right now...and all the thoughts in my head:

1.These paces seem way too hard to hit right now. I don't think it is impossible but most likely not probable. 

that being said, I WILL go for it. Why not? i might fall on my face, but I'd rather try than wonder. 

2. I have been having really sore quads for over a week now...and today my calves tightened up alot. My legs felt really tired AGAIN today...so I'm sort of thinking they might not be recovered in time for thurs.

3. if it is windy, I will probably POUT...I HATE running against the wind..its worse than cold or rain or anything else to me.....it just makes me miserable.

4.I am excited to run. I worry i've lost a bit of my competetive edge lately b/c I really don't care if I don't run as fast as i'd like. I have my mind set on the big picture: Boston and I'm REALLY trying to have FUN with my races:) I have not trained for a 5K at all. trying to keep this all in perspective:)

5. I will go out Thursday, run my little butt off and be happy with whatever my legs decided they are capable of THAT.DAY. I feel like I am maturing with my attitude about running and I can accept things like this a lot better now. numbers dont' define me b/c I know I will get to my goals when the time is right. I don't plan to stop til I do:)

6. Lacey at Live the Life you choose, who is also my best friend runs her FIRST 5K this day too and I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited for her and SOOOOOOOOOOOO proud of her!!! This is going to be a wonderful memorable day to share with her and I 'm so excited I can be there to watch her cross that finish line! she has come so far in the 6wks she's been running:):) she should have a new blog post up later tonight...so go send her some good luck wishes!!!

PROUD MAMA MOMENT:

Okay..and one last thing...went to Megans parent teacher interview today.
found out she has been going to the advanced group of the grade 2's reading class for reading each day. didn't know that??. also...the advanced Grade 2 group for spelling. she is reading at a 3-4th grade level. this I knew.
Next they are planning to test her on math b/c she is bored with what they are doing now....He plans to test her on math she's never done before b/c he said she 'intuitively' knows how to apply principles and figure things out:):)
this all lead to a conversation about what do we do if she is going to the 2nd grade class for everything and it sounds like it might be probable that she will skip 2nd grade next year and go straight to 3rd. we will see. lots to think about and consider...but she has told me on more than on occasion that first grade just isn't challenging for her:(:(
I have always known she is a brilliant child, but this still was humbling and made me beam with pride.
what a sweet little girl I have......who just happened to also get her daddy's brains along with her heart of gold:)


Here she is with me tonight, working out at the gym: as I watcher her run around and hop on and off the eliptical, I couldnt help but see myself 26 yrs ago..... so cool to be a mom:)