Still Challenging after 2 1/2 years

So I know it has been quite some time since writing on this page!  I apologize for that.  I didn't always have time available as I was traveling to be sitting down and writing out my thoughts.  So update on the last month in 100 words or less! :o)  Ok so Niagara Falls Marathon is and AWESOME race!  I loved every minute of my 3rd and fastest marathon!  It was a beautiful day, beautiful course, and just so awesome!  I think so far it is my favorite marathon!  All I can say is training after a marathon was quite fun.  Knowing even though I was on vacation I couldn't stop training due to the fact that my next marathon is Dec. 2nd.  I had a blast seeing the places I was visiting from the view of a runner and a cyclist.  I pounded the pavement wherever I went and I have to tell you that I was captivated by all the beautiful creation that surrounded me.  Most of my time was spent running the mountain trails or riding the country roads of MT and it was just so awesome to see places that I had never seen before even though it was right in front of me my whole childhood. 

I have titled this post "Still Challenging" for a reason.  My last long run in MT was an 18 miler, and I have to say it was probably one of the hardest runs I have ever had.  I don't know if this will be an encouragement or a deterring read for you all.  It was quite interesting to be feeling my body go through things that haven't happened in a long time on a long run.  I don't mean that my body was shutting down or anything but people think that since I've been running for so long and do marathons and everything that running is easy.  Well hate to break it to you, but I still have to work at running A LOT!  It was just a tough run and the thing that God revealed to me so strongly was this simple phrase "Everything Matters."  If you are an athlete you know this all to well, if you aren't well let me break it to you like this.  EVERYTHING MATTERS!  I was given the reminder that everything matters in my training physically and spiritually.  I had 18 miles to try and figure out why I was struggling and as I prayed I got insights for sure.  SLEEP, it matters!  I didn't get a good solid nights rest the night before and my body was tired.  I didn't eat enough probably because I was running at a different time than usual and had been awake for longer than usual.  There was a great increase in elevation and decrease in temperatures!  These all factor into how well I can run!  However the more important parts that I want to focus on would be my spiritual life. 

There were areas in my spirit that weren't lined up with the Lord, and I believe this played a part in my performance.  I think God honors us and loves to bless us when we are drawing closer to Him and doing all we can to grow in our relationship with Him.  Sometimes I stop pressing in, I start coasting, I start returning to old habits and this affects my life.  Every area of my life is affected when my spirit isn't in line with God's will.  When I am doing life on my own and trying to live according to my thoughts and feelings I lose sight of what God could be wanting to do or asking me to do.  I feel like this was a little bit of where I was that day, just not really pressing in, trying to do my own thing and not really seeking for God to guide or direct me.  It was a powerful reminder to me that God cares about me and desires to have intimacy with me.  He longs for me to come to Him and rely totally on Him.  To be surrendered, totally abandoned, and dead to myself is what He wants from me.  I finished my run 2 miles short of the goal, tired, hungry, and with a new appreciation of the mighty strength and power of God.  He is the one that gives us everything from the breath in our lungs to the ability to move our feet.  I was totally relying on Him to take me through that run and it was amazing!  Time wise, it was a terrible run compared to how I have ran in the past, but my spirit was encouraged, and challenged to remember that EVERYTHING MATTERS.  Whether it is a physical act or a spiritual act its all connected and it all matters to God! 

I have a week and a half before my next marathon and I am so excited to see God work in my life.  I have never done 2 marathons in a year, let alone this close to one another.  It will be an awesome experience and I am just looking forward to the ability to run with friends and encourage them along the way! 

The Joy of Tappering!!

Well this week is a good week!  As I prepare to head north to the Niagara Falls Marathon my training seems to take a bit of a slow and low focus.  Trying not to spend to much energy running and trashing my legs my workouts are just easy ones.  I had a 45 minute easy run on Monday, Tuesday a 50 minute run with a 15 minute warmup and then a 3 mile tempo run (basically just picking up the pace for 3 miles to get the heart pumping and legs a bit more loose and to also give the body the ability to speed up and slow down more easily) and then a 10 minute cool down.  I will be traveling to Canada on Wednesday so I won't get any running in and then I'll do a 30 minute run on Thursday.  This run is key for me to get a feel for the temperatures that I will be facing on Sunday.  I will be able to understand what layers if any I will need for race day!  Friday will be a total rest day, sipping my water and doing my best to eat the nutritionally energizing foods that will help me maintain a good pace. Saturday will be an even easier day, just a simple 25 minute run to again test the temps, loosen the legs a bit and to relax!!  THEN SUNDAY IS RACE DAY!! 

I am feeling very good about this race.  I feel I have trained better than years past and should be able to stay strong throughout the entire 26.2 miles!  Fueling is important as usual, however the main thing I think for me will be the temps.  I am told 50-60 degrees is the perfect temps to run and that is just what the weather is showing for sunday!!  I am excited and as long as I can stay warm enough I should have a great race!  For me time doesn't always mean everything.  Of course I love the fact that I can go out and do well and get a Personal Best and it really shouldn't be that hard this time.  My training has me doing good times and as long as I allow God's wisdom to guide me I will be great!  I am excited to see what God has for me in this race.  I know the last marathon I ran turned into a great opportunity to pray alongside people as we ran and encourage them to keep going.  It was incredible and I honestly didn't want to finish!  It was the longest marathon time that i've had but honestly I wouldn't trade it for anything because I was doing just what God wanted me to be doing that day!  It was where I really felt the desire and even experienced the great ministry opportunity that I had in the endurance sports world! 

So this marathon is no different, I am looking to see what God has for me.  It has been a great training period and even though the marathon is on sunday training will continue on so that I can run the St. Croix marathon on Dec. 2nd!  Its a big year and God's doing great things and each race He has something special in it so I am looking forward to sunday's time of worshiping for 26.2 miles!!

and I'm feeling GOOD!

Well I had quite the weekend that just passed.  I am in the final weeks of my training for the Niagara Falls marathon!!  I only have 1 more long run and then a decrease in the distance and then its race day!!  Saturday I had to do 19 miles (my longest run in almost a year actually)  I found it quite easy to prepare for the run which was delightful!  I knew I had to do it, and I knew that hydrating and fueling is so important on these runs.  I always have a few "go to" things in preparation for a long run.  I get up and eat a little bit of oatmeal not only to fuel the run but to take away the empty stomach rumbling that I normally wake up with!  I like to lay my stuff out on the counter so I can visualize the fuel and set the distance for when I will take each of them.  This run's fuel was a bit different however my experiment seemed to pay off.  I grabbed my GU for miles 4, and 16 and then I had a powerbar that I planned to eat half of at mile 8 and then the other half at 12.  The thinking behind this was to gain a bit more energy in the middle of the run so my body would have more to pull from later in the higher miles.  I also did my best to drink as much as possible the day before the run, I think I got a gallon and some which is GREAT!!  The run was great it started out with a nice easy 2 miles alone at 4:30am on the north shore that was beautifully lite by the full moon!  It was incredible and then I was joined by the rest of my running friends for 15 miles and then did the last 2 alone again and it was perfect!  I felt so strong, so fresh, and really good!  I haven't felt like that after a long run in awhile.  God truly kept me feeling this way! 

So having such a great run on Saturday led me to entering into a sprint triathlon on Sunday morning.  I didn't know if I would participate in it because of how I might feel after my run but honestly as I walked around saturday afternoon I didn't even feel like I had ran so I knew the Tri was gonna happen.  I was excited to do this triathlon, it was only my 3rd triathlon and every time I race I get more excited and fall in love all over again with it!  I was even able to get a new personal record on my time in completing it!  I was of course slow out of the water (I'm working on this) but I knew the bike course and I was able to regain ground on the bike and pull ahead of a number of people!  The run was good..... I am really learning my body, there is a difficulty in knowing how much you can push on the bike to still have energy to run.  It takes me a long time to get my running rhythm down where my legs don't feel like jello or noodles after I get off my bike.  I know in time my body will learn how to adjust quicker than the first mile of the run.  However it was a great race I felt again strong...well as strong as I could for swimming, cycling, and running!  I was caught off guard by the race director and was given a very VALUABLE piece of information that I will not forget in my next races.  He told me I wasn't smiling or looking happy when he saw me in the transition area.  I know there are lots of reasons for this, focus being the main one, just tuning everything and everyone out and just doing what I need to do at that time.  However I know that I race for a higher purpose and I don't have the same attitude that everyone else does so I need to be careful in the future to race with the Joy of the Lord shining through me!  Although someone might thing how can you smile when you swim 1/2 mile, bike 14 miles, and run 3 miles??!!  Well its possible and not only at the end of the race but during it!  I do know there were moments when I couldn't stop smiling because I was feeling so alive and just loving the gift God has given me in this way!

Training for something more

Man oh man..... I have so many thoughts running through my mind right now.  It seems that that is all that is on my mind these days, Running, Riding, Swimming...simply put TRAINING!  It is a good thing no doubt because I fully believe that this is what God has called me to do but every now and then I do need to take a step back and evaluate my training.  I have to remind myself that I am not doing any of this for my own personal gain.  Sure I train hard so I can improve on my abilities but really what is the focus of my heart.  Is it so I can be made great in the eyes of people?  Is it for me to get so good that I can actually compete against others and WIN!  Or is it simply just to enjoy the gifts that God has given me and as an act of gratitude and worship offer my training to Him for His glory.  I wish I could tell you that I always have the last focus!  However sometimes I do get caught up in the mentality that I have to be better and I have to win, that I long for the praises of people telling me how good I am or how I am improving.  I was gently reminded of this by the Lord this week thankfully I haven't fallen into those mindsets but He did just simply say to remember why I am racing, why I am training, and stay focused.

I was also challenged to make a spiritual training schedule that coincides with my physical training schedule.  I have found it at times so easy to get caught up in my running, riding, or swimming schedule that there are days that I don't make my time with God to be more than a few moments during the day.  I tend to get so focused on what I have to do physically to improve and forget what I must do spiritually.  There are numerous verses in the Word that speak into putting God first and then He will bless you in all you do.  Well this area is no different!  I have decided that the amount of time I spend doing my physical training I must do at least that amount of time with the Lord in prayer, worship, reading the word, meditating of the word.  I believe that as I begin this not really new area of training but a renewed focus, spending more of my time with the Lord keeping my heart set on the things of heaven I will see even greater spiritual growth and fitness then ever before! 

Colossians 3:17 "And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father."

Training and not simply working out

So I have really been hit with an idea that I actually got from listening to a sermon a few weeks ago and its finally sinking in and taking root!!  Only took a little bit of time!  Let me ask you a question.... Is there a difference between training and working out?  Think about it.... Google it.... what are you thinking?  Ok well let me say that I believe there is a HUGE difference between these very similar terms.  First off lets look at training; now when I think about this word I think of my lifestyle.  I am in a training season right now, I am on a specific plan each day to help me get ready for running a marathon and do my triathlons.  Sure I have workouts that I do each day, but those workouts are a part of a training program designed to get me to my set goals.  "Do you know the difference between training and working out? Training is when you have a progressive plan with measurable goals and continual challenges. Working out is anything that makes you sweaty and tired but not necessarily better because it lacks consistency, direction and specificity."  -Nick Tumminelo 
I like that quote it totally hits the point hard.  Truly there is a difference, training take time, it takes a great deal of focus, and like that quote said consistency!  It is little things over a long period of time continually building upon one another.  It is gradually building strength that will last and get you to the goal.  I have ran 2 marathons, and completed 2 triathlons.... It took me 5 months to get from never running to completing my first marathon.  I couldn't just go out and run 26.2 miles, it took time, it took complete dedication and a desire to not give up or quit even when it was painful and not so fun.  Working out in my mind is just something that is done.  It doesn't really change who I am, where for me training is a lifestyle.  Just like our faith.  We can choose to "workout" in our faith meaning we can sometimes pray, sometimes read the bible, go to church, but if we don't let any of these things go to our heart and change us we are just going through the motions.  In our faith we are looking for transformation, lives colliding with God and being radically changed.  God doesn't save us so we can stay the same, stuck in our same old sins.  He saves us, and redeems us and gives us new life, a training program to bring Him glory here on earth.  However it isn't easy, it takes a lot of hard work, it isn't always comfortable, or even pretty but with our eyes set on the goal JESUS it is worth it.  Everything is worth giving up for the one prize Jesus!

The Race

Love City Triathlon finish

Well I have to say this last week has been an incredible time in my training.  I was able to take some time over labor day weekend and go to St. John and compete in the Love City Triathlon here are the Results from that race!  It was a very good learning experience I must say.  It was the first time I traveled for a triathlon so it was a new course, a course I was only able to drive partially.  So I didn't know much about the bike course except that it was VERY hilly and lots of hairpin turns at the bottom of the downhills.  I have been training pretty hard these last few weeks but I really haven't been doing much swimming and it shows!  I am now determined to get myself in gear and start busting out those pool workouts.  I can't simply give 100% in 2 of my disciplines and only 50% in the other one.  I must equally work at all three of these areas.  Like I said before this was a great learning experience and I did some things that I am not to fond of, made some mistakes that hopefully by God's grace I won't make again.

First off I learned to ALWAYS do a pre-race bike inspection!  Make sure everything is working properly, all the little details are so important.  I had the sickest feeling in my stomach after the race when I was loading my bike and I realized I never closed the clasp on my brakes from when I took the tires off to travel.  So although my brakes worked fine THANK GOD, I could have been in a heap of trouble due to that one little mistake. 

Second : I learned I have to be very careful about my breathing on the bike.  I had 2 KILLER side aches on the run that I am not positive about how I got them but I think it was from not breathing correctly going up the hills.  Position on the bike when climbing hills is necessary to breath deep and properly.  Not slouching over down on the handle bars but holding the top and allowing your torso to be as straight as possible I guess.... (I'm still working on this one)

Third: I have found that racing in the Caribbean is INCREDIBLE!!  I was stunned and left breathless (not simply because the hills I was riding up were extreme) the view I had from the road of St. John was so amazing.  I for a moment forgot that I was even racing when I came over a hill and saw all the British Virgin Islands to the north.  It was spectacular!  It is in those moments that I just get blown away by the work of God. 

Forth : and lastly go out and do your best!  Even though my run was in my mind horrible due to my side aches I couldn't give up.  I had to walk a lot of the 4 mile course, it wasn't my ideal run but I just kept persevering.  I finished strong and even though I had a few shifting errors and my chain fell of in the middle of 2 hills, and I walked up the remaining hill...(something I'll never do again either)  I learned it will save time to coast to the bottom of the hill fix the chain and ride back up!  I struggled with the run but I kept moving and I didn't give up.  I believed in myself and I just focused on the prize....THE END OF THE RACE! 

I have found that my mind is where the biggest battle is.  I must captivate my thoughts, ignore the ones saying I am tired, I can't continue, it's to hard, I need to stop...these are all lies and when ignored you will see your body do what you thought was impossible.  Overall this was a great race!  I fell in love once again with triathlons and now look forward to my next one at the end of this month!!

Learning to Persevere!

This week's training has been pretty awesome I must say!  I am seeing great results in the new workouts I am doing.  Seeing the difference in speed, in my endurance, and my stamina!  I think I am seeing most of my results in my running so far just because that is what I know so well.  I have past runs, times, and distances to better compare it to!  God is soooo good!  He has truly blessed me in this training season!  I have so far been free from any serious injury, and when I do have any pain I just go see my personal chiropractor!  It is awesome that our new base director is a chiropractor so I get weekly adjustments for free!  So I am able to do my training pain free!  It is an extremely different feeling.  I have always had some lasting pain in my training seasons so  I am truly grateful to not feel any now!  I am training longer, harder, and more often then I ever have in the past and it is really difficult but the apparent results that I am seeing in only 1 1/2 months of training have been incredible!  Race season is just about ready to start up again, I have my first triathlon of the season in a little over a week.  I am excited but also know that I have areas that still need to be improved upon.  My swimming is my weakest, I have had a difficult time doing my training swims with the pool being closed, and the water getting rough or not having a swim buddy!  However I know in time it will be better and by May 5th for the half ironman I will be fully prepared and capable of doing the distance quickly!!  

 Training has really become a part of who I am.  I am amazed at the things I have learned about myself, throughout this journey.  How my body is so deceptive, it wants to give up so soon.  My mind if I do not control it will begin to tell my body to shut down.  This life has taught me so much about self discipline, overcoming myself, and how to persevere even when it hurts.  I have never finished a workout disappointed that I did it.  Never once have I regretted giving my all in my time on the road.  I have however experienced those moments when I knew I could have given more and I simply just didn't.  Those days are few and far between but I have them and I must just learn from those days and decide to not let my fear of giving my all freak me out!  I am learning patience this week also, as I know I can push harder, go faster, I have specific workouts that require me to not go all out.  So I am learning how to control my body and save the energy for a particular time and not waste myself everyday!

Let the training begin

Welcome to FSP Endurance Ministry's Blog!!!

I am excited to announce that this will be a blog that you can come to (hopefully) on a weekly basis and check in with me and see what I'm doing in my training and ministry to the endurance sports community!!

This is turning out to be quite the exciting training season.  As of July 9th I have been working with a triathlete coach.  It is so incredible to already in only a month see the differences in my strength, speed, and endurance.  I felt led by God to work with Coach Ryan Borger http://borgerendurance.com/.  It is so cool to get specific workouts for each day for me!  The main reason why I wanted to get a coach was because of the race season I felt God calling me to.  This year is going to be the biggest race year so far.  I have multiple running races from 5k's to marathons, and I am planning on running my first Ultra-marathon.  Multiple triathlons, and finally a 70.3 mile Half Ironman triathlon.  It is really exciting to see the path God is taking me down in the endurance sports community and I can't wait to see what happens!  I am blown away at the ambitious and rather large race schedule that I have created for myself but I know that it is a step of obedience and faith! 

I have had some setbacks and what I truly believe are some spiritual attacks that are designed to keep me from pursuing this passion placed in my heart but I will not stand down.  My focus is on God and what He is calling me to do!  Training my body, racing and shining His light in the endurance sports culture is my ministry and what I love to do!