Every Good and Perfect Thing Comes from Above...And From Running

James 1:17 "Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow."

1 year ago I ran the country music half marathon for the first time as a runner. This Saturday I will run it again for the 2nd year in a row. As I am preparing for the race this weekend I cant help but reflect and think back on what a crazy running year this has been. I realize that pretty much everything good in my life I owe to God and running. As cliche as it sounds, I truly believe now that me running is part of God's plan for my life. 

I have a really awesome job! I am blessed to work for some of the kindest and most caring human beings on the planet. If you met them, you would be hard pressed to find people that are nicer or cooler than they are. How did I come across this really awesome job? Running buddies of course! I didnt get into running for networking, but when you run with people a few times a week for several hours you learn about their life and what they do and they learn about your life and what you do. I work with my running buddies! How cool is that!! 

If you follow me on instagram (@sml145), you might have noticed my ridiculously good looking and incredibly wonderful boyfriend. How did we meet? We met in our running group! We were in the same pace group for the Country Music Half Marathon training group last year. Funny thing is, we didnt really know each other during the Winter/Spring CMM training. We didnt get to know each other until we started Fall half marathon training (much smaller group). We started running together and became close friends and had an instant connection. Now were dating (and I can out run him :D). I owe my really wonderful and amazing relationship to running! Dating a fellow runner is fun! He's my automatic running partner! I owe my relationship to God, for putting this really wonderful GODLY! (<---Ladies this is the most important trait to look for in a man youre dating!) Man in my life. Had I not joined a running group and started running and trained for the 1/2 marathon last year, I might not have ever met this really great guy who is really good to me! So all of that to say! Thank you Jesus for putting both of us in the right place at the right time in that running group!

Recently, ive been struggling, ive gained quite a few pounds back and have been struggling to stay on track lately. When I start to get discouraged for getting off track, I look back at where I started and realized ive come a long ways. I also look at everything good in my life and how running has literally changed my life for the better! That keeps me going, and brings me back up when I start to get discouraged.

Major victory this week: We have this park full of hills here in Nashville (who am I kidding, all of Nashville feels like one giant hill!). This park is called Percy Warner. For the longest time I have let Percy Warner get to me. Running Percy Warner Park is HARD! Its a challenging 5.8 mile loop thats pretty steep. I have struggled with this run! I hate Percy and all its hills with a passion. Last week I ran there and got lost :( . So Percy has always gotten the best of me. After last week, I realized that Percy Warner is all mental. This week I set the time on my phone to run 5 minutes walk 1 minute. Do to the nature of this park and the number of hills, most of the time I didnt get lucky and end up with a hill during a 1 minute walk....Unfortunately I had to run those hills! But you know what!? I made it up those hills! and I didnt die! I conquered Percy Warner Park today! I crushed Percy Warner Park today! 

I am ready to conquer 13.1 miles on Saturday!

Just Say No to Body Shaming

Warning: This is my rant, and its long, but its worth reading. 

Body shaming definition: Body shaming to me is when someone  makes you feel about 2 feet tall and makes you hate your body. Body shaming is where someone makes comments about the way you look or makes comments about your body that make you feel terrible about yourself.  Most time adults (usually, and normally directed towards young women) that "body shame" others, don't really understand what they were doing. They think that comments such as "you'd be so much prettier if you were skinnier" are motivation to loose weight, but instead those comments tear people down. This needs to be changed!  A healthy body, and a healthy mind are connected! 

The reason for this blog post:

I was out and about in public the other day, and I witnessed a mother making comments to her pre-teen daughter about her body. This mother basically called her pre-teen daughter fat. Which infurates me! This girl was no older than about 11 or 12. Yes, this girl was overweight for her age, but that's not the point. In my opinion, children, teenagers, women, men, boys, of all ages should be made to feel wonderful and beautiful no matter their size. My other issue is that yes, the girl that was the victim of body shaming, was overweight, but body shaming her is not the answer. If this mother continues to cut down her daughter and make comments about her size, that is not going to help, its only going to drive her to make more unhealthy choices! This girl is at one of the most important times in her life. That girl is at the age where she is learning about herself and who she wants to me. Kids these days are even meaner than they were when I was pre-teen. I am almost positive that if she is being picked on by her mother, kids at school are picking on her as well. She is just starting to make her mark on the world, and she shouldn't have to do it feeling bad about herself or her body!

My solution: Instead of cutting this girl down and making her feel bad about herself and her body, lets build this girl up! Why can't we give her positive attention and teach her healthy eating habits and teach her how to have a healthy lifestyle. Let's teach kids to be active, and find fun things to do to where they get physical activity and exercise. Let's teach them & love them. I can't help but wonder if this girl that I saw is overweight due to the emotions from the way her mother treats her. Lets Love on kids and teens and teach them to have healthy lifestyles rather than cutting them down and making them feel bad about their bodies. Lets treat them in a way that gives them confidence about themselves and their bodies. Adults need this too. Always remember Psalm 139:14 :I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Last two major points:

1) Adults: lets remember that our bodies are a temple, so lets treat it as such. We should be the example for kids. We are constantly watched in this day and age with social media everywhere. If we try to make better choices and those watching us see it, then maybe they will be encourage to make better choices too!

2) God made you the way you are for a reason, but its ok to make healthy changes, but always remember he made you the way you are for a reason. If you want to make changes, do it for yourself, not for others.

Thank you for reading my rant!

Happy New Year! Hitting the Reset Button and Goal Recap

Happy New Year Everyone! 2015 was a great year! Its time to hit the reset button and get back on track for 2016!

The holidays were great, but it was a time of resting and indulging. The holidays are over now, its time to get back to serious running and healthy eating.

I have kept this little blog up for a whole year! I'm pretty excited! Last year at this time I set a few goals for myself! I am proud that I have crushed my goals! I didn't meet all of them but i'm very pleased with my progress. Here were my goals from last year and how I did:

1)  Reach my Goal Weight --> The recommended weight for my height (5'5) is 114-144 I would like to be about 140.  I have around 50 more pounds to go, give or take a few. --> I haven't reached my goal weight yet but I am still working and am getting closer. I am probably close to 20 lbs away from my goal weight! I am pleased!

2) I want to RUN!! (not walk) the Country Music 1/2 Marathon at the end of April! Running 13.1 miles ahhhh!!!!!!!!!!!  --> I RAN!!! 3 half marathons!! No 1, not 2, but 3!! I conquered Country Music 1/2 Marathon, Savannah 1/2 Marathon, and Vegas 1/2 Marathon! Each one of these races had their own challenges but overall i'm pleased with my time for them and the memories made in the cities those races were held in!

Last year at this time I was worried about being able to run 5 miles at the beginning of half marathon training! the farthest I had ever ran was 3.5 miles! 1 year later, I have completed 2 half marathon trainings and 3 half marathons!

I am walking talking proof that you really can do ANYTHING you put your mind too! I had it in my head that I wanted to run a half marathon. I put the time, work, and effort into conquering that goal and I did it! So that's my advice to you! If you want something work for it! 

Its a new year! Happy 2016! I HATE! new years resolutions...no one ever keeps New years resolutions, its entirely too much pressure. So instead I set small achievable goals for myself. These goals are simple and achievable ones that if I don't meet them I don't beat myself up about it, but they give me something to work towards. Here are my goals for 2016:

1) Meet my goal weight sometime in 2016!

2) Run 3 half marathons and improve my time! I would like to finish at least one 1/2 marathon in 2 hours, but would be perfectly ok with a 2:30 finish. Here are the 3 half marathons I want to run this year:

                                                                          1) Nashville Country Music Half marathon 

                                                                          2) Chicago Half marathon

                                                                          3) Destination to be determined!

All 3 of my half marathons will be rock n roll series, b/c i'm a nerd...I really want the big medal they send out to participants who have completed 3 of their half marathons! Its super giant and would look really nicely hanging on my wall!

         

Here are pictures from my running adventures:

I have really awesome co-workers who encourage my running habit. My boss created this meme of me after I ran the Komen 5k in October here in Nashville!

Finished Savannah!

Ran past this sign in Vegas!!

This is my friend Mal...her face says it all...how we all feel after running a 1/2 marathon..."I hate running..I love running..I hate running...I Love running"

 

The Vegas Medal was a slot machine! How cool is that!

Too tired to smile after finishing Vegas

Shout out to my running group Happy Running People! There is no way I could've achieved my goal of running a half marathon, and then adding 2 more, without their constant support & encouragement. When you spend countless hours running with people you get to know them and they truly become family! (and the handsome guy on the right is my favorite running buddy (aka thats my boyfriend) )

This is my most recent before and after. The picture on the left is from December of 2013. The picture on the left is December 2015.

Thanks for reading! Ill post again soon to update on this years half marathon training!