Summer is on it’s way out. We have had a full few months. It has been full of change, fun and good times. We spent time at Disneyland, we moved, had fun with some very dear friends, hung our with some Smurfs, visited with Grandparents near and far, went to the mountains, sat by a fire and ate many s’mores. Enjoy our summer in photos.
Last year BigZabba wrote an essay about something that scared her and what she could do to overcome that fear.
This week, after many weeks of practice and rehearsals, she performed in her school’s variety show, in front of a sold out crowd of 435 people, to overcome her fear of being in front of people. She did such a fantastic job. We are so proud of her, but even better she was proud of herself.
It took a while, but I realized that Target fooled me. A while ago I bought a pair of shoes that I thought were Converse. I was surprised that I didn’t like them. They felt really heavy and I didn’t like how they felt. So, they have been sitting in my closet. I should have returned them, but by the time I realized that I didn’t like them it was too late. Fast forward many months. I walked past a shoe store and saw Converse in the window. The back of the shoe says “all star”. My Target shoes say “one star”. Ah-ha! They aren’t Converse shoes at all. They are Targetfakeverse. I got the real Converse shoes and I love them. That is much better.
I run much faster when I run alone. I think that is because I don’t have to use my energy to run, breathe, and talk. When I am alone I can focus on breathing and running and nothing else. Also I run with music when I am alone and that makes me go faster. I unintentionally end up running to the beat of the music.
The other day I was cleaning windows. Why can’t the screen makers make screens that are easy to take in and out of the window? My windows may be clean, but the screens aren’t as straight as they once were.
I started doing some spring cleaning. I washed a few windows (as mentioned earlier), & washed all the drapes. What other “spring cleaning” should I do?
I have been reading through the Bible with my neighbor. It has been so fun just sitting down and reading straight through and talking about the things we find interesting. My neighbor mentioned something I hadn’t ever thought about. Adam lived 930 years. Think about the people that he could have known. Adam could have known Noah. (**i was wrong. adam could not have know noah. it was noah who could have known abraham.) I never thought about the people in the old testament whose lives overlapped. Also, during all of Adam’s 930 years I am sure that people told stories about his time walking with God in the Garden of Eden. Wouldn’t it have been amazing to be able to go straight to Adam if you had a question about God?! It would have been so fascinating to be able to hear from Adam what it was like to live in perfect harmony with God. Here is a very interesting timeline that shows various people in the old testament and how their lives overlapped.
I’d love to hear some of your random thoughts about my random thoughts.
I am still here. Just finding a new groove, a new balance in life.
How much do I run? How far? How fast?
How much training do I need to do for the next race?
Does laundry really need to get done on Monday?
So, I am here. Lurking on other people’s blogs. Finding my groove. I’ll let you know when I find it.
This morning I set a PR! I am so excited. With my friend’s help we kept an 8:41 pace and I finished 6.2 miles in 53:48.
Here is the breakdown:
3.1 miles – 27:15, 8:48 pace
mile 4 – 8:08 pace
mile 5 – 8:56 pace
mile 6 – 8:43 pace
.2 mile – 7:52 pace
That is 2 minutes faster than my best 10k. Thanks Lola!
Today I finished reading an amazing book. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand. It is the story of Louie Zamperini, an amazing runner, Olympian, WWII hero and POW survivor. His story is amazing, heart breaking, unbelievable, & full of hope. The horrific things that he and the other soldiers had to endure are unfathomable. It is amazing the even in the midst of war and being a prisoner Louis and his friends were able to find joy in even the smallest things.
The will to live is incredible. Louis was officially listed as missing at sea, and since they didn’t find him & assumed he had died when his plane went down at sea, May 27, 1943, he was officially listed as dead on May 28, 1944. It wasn’t until October 1945 that he was reunited with his family. More than 2 years had passed and his family never gave up hope that he was alive.
While he survived the war Louis still had to endure the aftermath of the war. His physical body healed, but spiritually and emotionally he was a mess. God had his hand on Louis Zamperini throughout his time as an Olympic runner, a soldier and after he returned home. A tent revival meeting with Billy Graham changed the course of Louis life.
While some of the details are hard to read, it is a very well written book. There were times that I cried reading about how he and the other soldiers were treated. It is an eye opening book about a part of WWII that I knew very little about. Simply put, Unbroken is an amazing story that is worth reading.
I finished reading Water for Elephants. Overall I thought it was a great book. It was very entertaining, well written and a fun story. There are several parts that I think could have been left out, or significantly toned down, and the story would have remained the same. But, it was a fun, quick read.
50/50 was a crazy amazing book. I still can’t believe that he ran 50 marathons in 50 days. That is such a crazy endeavor. However, the craziest part of the book, in my opinion, is the last few pages. He tells what happened in the days following the end of the Endurance 50. Telling you doesn’t ruin anything, I don’t think, it just adds to how crazy this man is. But if you don’t want to know, stop reading now.
After all the marathons were over and everyone had gone back to their homes, somehow someone had neglected to get Dean an airline ticket from NYC back home to San Francisco. What did he do? Anyone I know would have gone to the airport and bought a ticket. No, he decided to run home. From New York to San Fran! What?! Didn’t he just run 50 marathons!? Don’t you think his wife was like, “Honey, I think it is time for you to come home now. You have been gone 7 weeks. Time to come home.” I have no idea what she said, but the book says that he ran for one month, sleeping in parks and getting food on the run, traveled 1300 miles to Missouri. Then he decided he missed his family and decided to go home. So he ran to the airport, got a ticket and flew home. After running just over 1300 miles in the 50 marathons, he ran an additional 1300 miles in his quest to get home. That is dedication.
I am still working on When Helping Hurts, a book we are reading through with our small group.
I think my next book will be Devil at my Heels, the story of Louis Zamperini, a runner & WW2 hero.
This morning I was supposed to meet some friends to run. Unfortunately it didn’t work out for them to join me. This normally means that I would go back to bed, but I figured since I was up I might as well still go. This is huge for me, since I rarely run alone. I started up the music and went on my way. It was a great run. I am so glad I went. I pushed myself and went further, faster than planned.
Stats:
5.05 miles
43:29
8:36 pace
average speed 7.0 mph
Had I known how well I was doing I would have gone another mile. I would have easily gotten a PR for a 10k. I will have to try it again another time. It was a great way to start the day.
I love to read. No, I really love to read. I would read all the time if I could. I so enjoy going to the bookstore and looking at all the options. I really love to read.
I am a read one book at a time kind of person. I have a hard time keeping multiple story lines straight, so I have to just focus on one at a time. However, I am in the midst of reading 2 books and I just got another one that I am so excited to start. I may become a multiple book at a time person.
What am I reading?
When Helping Hurts By: Steve Corbett & Brian Finkert — This is not a book that I would have naturally picked up. Our small group is reading it together. I am only on the first chapter and honestly I am finding it to be more enjoyable, and more interesting, than I was anticipating. I am sure the content will get heavier as I read on, but I am glad that I am not dreading it.
Water for Elephants By: Sara Gruen — I didn’t know much about this book. I saw it in the bookstore and I remembered seeing a movie trailer that I thought was interesting. I honestly can’t remember what I liked about the trailer, but I remember that I liked it. I always like to read the book before I see the movie, so I decided to pick it up. So far so good.
50/50 By: Dean Karnazes — This is the one that I am excited to start. I am really enjoying running books right now. The author ran 50 marathons in 50 days! Crazy. I can’t wait to read all about it.
What are you reading?
That is the question. I certainly don’t mind cooking, but the problem is I don’t ever know what to make. Most of the time 4:00pm comes and I haven’t yet put a single thought into dinner. (like now for example. it is 3:36pm and have no idea what is on the menu for tonight.) I go to the fridge…nothing jumps out at me. So I go to the freezer….there are a lot of good choices there, however the problem is that it is all frozen. So now what?
I am not the kind of cook who can throw together bread crumbs, mayo and add a dash of lemon and voila! Dinner is served. I have to have a plan, a recipe, step by step instructions. At 4:00pm it is hard to come up with a plan when all of your options are frozen. Generally when this happens our dinner ends up being Thai, from our local yummy Thai place, cereal or quesadillas.
What do you do? Are you a weekly menu planner? Do you have a few stand by meals that you can whip up at the last minute? Help a girl out.
