Saturday's 16 Mile Track Run

2:52:48

Hello everybody! There's a lot going on right now - Rob's Ministry is growing. We received a tremendous response to the reminder email he sent out for Natalie's concert at the Crystal Cathedral last weekend. (I was so sorry I missed it but God has been using me in other ways.) We've booked another 2 concerts as a result and that is Exciting!!

For this weekends Long Run I was up in Yuba City visiting Brad's Grandparents - It was awesome! Perfect weather and even though it's been 100+ degrees the previous week, we were blessed with it being a little bit cooler.

My long run was initially planned to sprawl out over the countryside, running through peach & almond orchards for the 16 miles. But once I got there, I was reminded of the several dogs that get spooked that early in the morning and come out to attack someone running by their house. My Aunt Lyn suggested I use the new "Geweckie" race track they had just built there in town. It was the first time I ran on a track and at first I felt liky a gym rat but I played a little game to avoid the idea of having to run around that track 64 times.

The run was awesome - I finished strong again (like I did the previous long run) and the weather stayed cool the entire morning. I listened to a lot of worship music and phedipidations podcast and really enjoyed my time alone out there on the track.

I wish I would have checked first because I missed a 5k that I could have run Friday evening - that would have been fun, but - oh well! Maybe I'll remember to check the next time we travel.

Saturday's 14 Mile Long Run

Saturday's 14 mile Long Run was terriffic! I ran long and what I thought was slow, but in fact I was at my normal pace. I just didn't have the anxiety I normally do of getting done quickly. I'm trying to slow down and appreciate the running as well as the challenges of running these long distances. I had Phidipidations loaded up in my ipod along with some fantastic worship music and really really enjoyed the 2.5 hours.

In addition, I didn't feel a bit sick post run. That was equally amazing! I made sure to eat really good the day before and drink plenty of water - the other thing I did different was to walk for about a mile after I was done running. (I had to in order to get to my car!) I am hopeful that those changes will be key to my post run recovery.

So yeah - And I know I'm addicted because later on that afternoon I was already planning the music and podcasts for this coming Saturday.

Not Every Run is Easy

My training was going just fine until about 3 weeks ago. I started to get some pain in my knees and particularly the top of my right foot. So after careful consideration and running on it a few more times, I decided to take last week off from running and give it some time to heal. It seems to have helped!

However, I have noticed that the last few runs have been a challenge. At first, I was disheartened to learn that not every single run would leave me feeling energized. It was sort of like the dissappointment you feel when you find out there's no Easter Bunny - kind of a bummer. The long runs especially have been brutally difficult to recover from. Too much lactic acid, dehydration and not enough protien have left me curled up in the fetal position in my bed for the entire day. So I've been doing a ton of research on the internet, trying different things to help with my symptoms and am hopeful to have things ironed out as soon as possible!

In the meantime, I'm starting to raise monies for the Biagi Family - www.nataliebiagi.com - I'm putting together a flyer to go door knocking to help raise some money. There's several neighbors who have stopped to chat with me during my run who seem sincerely proud of my accomplishments and goals. Hopefully, they'll be able to help out and support me too!

So - YOU TOO can help out! You can donate directly on little Natalie's website by check or credit card - EVERY LITTLE BIT HELPS!