Dream List #10

Dream List number ten. Host a race to Star Mound.

This race happened back in August, but I never got around to posting about it. I had scheduled the race for the end of July, but unfortunately, it was rainy, cold, and windy that day.

The new date, August 3rd, was windless, sunny, and just perfect.

The idea/dream to host this race began several years back. We can see Star Mound (a historic mound rising in the middle of the flat prairie land) from our house, the distance... about nine miles. I could see it each time I went out for a run, and hoped to run to it some day.

I also loved being on top of that hill. Up there is a school house, brought there and placed as a museum for anyone to come and visit. Picnics always taste the best when eaten at one of the picnic tables overlooking the fields and yards of the Manitoba prairies. 

Then the idea. Why not host a race and raise money for Lighthouse Church?

Two years later, the idea became a reality.

I learned a LOT hosting this race. There are many things that could have been done better. But, overall... it was a blast, and we are hoping to make it an annual event.

The morning of a race, I was SO nervous.

I have run in a race before, and felt those pre-race jitters, but now I was feeling extra nervous because of the fact that I was also hosting this time!

We had two distances. The full distance, which was just over nine miles, and a five mile distance.

Ker got everyone set up at the five miles, while us nine milers went to our starting point. The "High Five Race" began at 9:00 sharp.

Why did we name it the "High Five Race"? It was my Dad's idea. :)

It's kind of my church's 'thing' to give high fives. Often during service our Pastor will ask us to give out high fives in the middle of a sermon. Since we were giving the money raised to missions, we were also kind of giving a 'high five' to the people that would benefit from it.

This picture was taken one mile down the road. Obviously I was still happy and not hurting. :)

As a matter of fact, I didn't have any pains (other than blisters and the usual leg fatigue) the whole race. Which was basically a miracle, since I had been experiencing a lot of what I think was nerve pain in my leg during training. It felt great, and my pace ended up being 9:04 m/m, which I was very happy with, especially since I was going so slow up that hill that I was almost walking. If it weren't for the hill, I would have managed to stay under 9 m/m.

My dad, brothers Josh, and Caleb, as well as Zach (on the unicycle) were the only ones going the full distance. There had been few others signed up that had to drop out due to injury and sickness.

I am thankful for my family. None of them enjoy running, but they ran (NINE MILES) just for me. I love them for it.

This guy. He did not train a single day, but he got a quarter of a mile ahead of me at the beginning and I could never catch up. He won by running/walking the whole way. He pushed me to go faster than I ever would have if I was in front... we have always been competitive like that. :)

Then there were the bikers. They had a whopping 18 miles to ride, and I was impressed at their time! It was more or less a last minute addition to do the bike race, and even though we only had two people racing, I was glad we added it. (and I hope they had fun ;)

Introducing... the winner of the five mile!

The final stretch was a HUGE hill. It was brutal, but it helped that we had a cheering squad to give us the mental boost we needed right before the hill.

Zach. Nine miles on a unicycle. I couldn't believe it when I saw him riding up that hill ahead of some of the runners. He did amazing.

We were so blessed to have the most amazing volunteers. This crew cruised around handing out waters, and high fives. A bit of encouragement goes a long way during a race!

At the end of the race, we had a picnic lunch.



Group picture! I was so proud of everyone who pushed themselves past their limits to finish this race. It was so much fun, and truly... a dream come true.

Thanks to Meg @phrazephotography for taking these pictures for me!!

Learning

I haven't written about running for a long time.
Probably because for a long time, I didn't run. Coming off of an injury, I guess I became afraid to do much more than a couple of runs here and there before losing motivation.

I've had this idea for a long time to host a race, beginning from our yard and ending at a historic hill near our area called "Star Mound". This spring, I finally became brave enough to go for it, and so... training for the "High Five Race" began.

The first couple of weeks were great. besides being insanely out of shape. I was taking it slow, and enjoying myself.
But then, I got runner's knee. I wanted to cry when it happened. It was super frustrating because I wasn't even running that far before becoming injured... again. I just wanted to run without dealing with that. My biggest obstacle, is not knowing how to recover from injury in the midst of training. For some reason it scares me and I usually give up before I recover or I just power through it.

I took a month off of training. When I was able, I began to cross train, because lack of it was a big reason that I got runner's knee.

That first run after the break was terrifying. I wanted so bad to just run without injury, so I said a prayer. And I have said the same prayer every run since.
I said "God, I will give it my all, if you take care of my knees, and my shins, and my whole body while you're at it.  I just want to be a runner. Please help me to become a runner."

Once I came back to the same training day that the injury happened on, I felt my knees complaining and I literally ran yelling "I will not fear, I will not fear" over and over. I made it though.

Now, I am running farther than I ever have before without pain (well, running is never pain free... but you know what I mean. :), and I am scheduled to run my first 10k since last year this weekend.

I am learning.

I am learning to listen, not only to my body, but also to God. He doesn't always speak in a loud voice, and it takes practice to hear what He is saying.

I am learning to have faith, faith that if I do what I believe I am called to, God will do the rest. I believe that God cares about every detail of our lives. And if we ask Him and it is His will, He will be there for us, to help us when we ask.

I am learning to persevere. Even when it gets tough. Even when I have a bad day and don't do everything perfectly. Even when I feel like giving up.
Just. Keep. Going.

I am learning that I can do it. I can do all things, through Christ who gives me strength. He gave the promise, but I still have to do. Some days it seems like I will never make it, but suddenly I find myself looking back and being in awe of how far God has brought me.

It's my race to win.

Run. Stop.

Two thousand fourteen, resolution number four.
Become a runner.
My intention was to be careful and avoid injury.
But I am of the Mark Pauls family. One of the things that we seem to be born with is a competitive nature. That competitiveness drove me to become one of those "all in or all out" types which can be both a very good, and a very bad thing. This attitude became a big problem when it came to the runner that I wanted to become.

I didn't listen to what my body was telling me, pushed myself to hard, and managed to get myself injured with what I thought was shin splints.
Since we are a active family and playing sports together in summertime becomes a daily event, I knew I wasn't going to quickly heal from this "minor injury". So I decided to suck it up and just keep on running.
Mistake number two.

To make a long story short, through research I have determined that I do not have the symptoms of shin splints as I had previously assumed, rather of tibia stress fractures. Not only that, I have somehow managed to acquire a new injury in my foot, which demands rest.
So I stop, until healed.
Which will make it impossible to compete in the "Thanks for Giving Run" this year, and I will also be unable to complete my marathon training.
(Which makes me sad. But I'll get over it.)

Even though the "running season" ended in a sour note, and I did not end up running any of the races that I had intended, I did learn a lot.
I learned about different paces that aid to reduce risk of injury and completely shifted my training method.
I learned that speed coupled with endurance is not always necessary to build strength for the long run (I don't always have to run 5k pace!).
I learned that there are different types of runs, (recovery runs, long runs, threshold runs, interval runs, steady runs ect.) and each of them are fun!
I also learned to increase quantity, running up to 8 times and 40 miles a week.

I did become the runner that I have always wanted to be, maybe not the way that I wanted to... but still, a runner.

Now, as wintertime swiftly approaches and racing season comes to an end, I determine to get back in to the activity I have learned to love once I am again in running shape.
Becoming therefore one step closer to being the woman I know I was created to be.

Run in Spring

"I want to become a runner"

Those were the words that I wrote at the beginning of this year on my New Years Resolution blog post.
At the time I had high hopes of doing intense treadmill training so that I would be ready to "hit the road running" come spring time.
Unfortunately I found a huge lack of physical motivation when it came to the treadmill. I guess my newfound love for outdoor running sucked all of it away.
Over the winter, while I did do some running, I did not even come close to meeting the goals that I had set for myself.

This spring has been torture. Because of the cold weather I have been able to run outdoors some, but not nearly as consistent as needed to get into shape. But I've been making good use of all of those warm days... and hopefully spring will soon come to stay!

I have been approaching training a little bit different this year then last. Instead of working on both speed and distance at the same time, I am working on increasing my speed in a three mile restriction until I reach my goal. I will then gradually increase my distance at that pace.
While it is hard for me to keep my distance at three miles, I know that my tendency is to push myself to hard, which ultimately results in injury. So it has been good for me to take it more slow and steady.
So far I have been able to hit a PR each time I run outside this year which has been hugely motivating for me.
Today I actually came in 18.4 seconds short of my goal and only .06 min/mile off of my desired pace. I am getting closer!!

I have also been doing lots of core training, which has made a huge difference. It has helped me to correct my form while running (something I really needed to work on!) as well as has made me feel stronger all around.

So ya, that there is my running update for y'all.
And hey, any runners out there? I would love to hear any tips or tricks that have worked for you in your journey to becoming a runner.

The Story of my First Race (Dream List #72)

The day started 5:00 early. As I went outside to do the chores I found that the weather was exactly the way it had been forecasted to be for the past few days... cold, windy and wet.

To say that I was nervous was an understatement. For the whole hour long drive to the location of the race, I had mixed feelings of both excitement and trepidation. Not only was the weather not on my side, but I had also been struggling with a minor injury... and as a result had not been able to train like I should have been. It pained me to walk.... and just thinking about the 13.1 miles that I would soon face, was quite daunting.

But one thing I'll never purpose to be is a quitter. And with that thought in mind, when we arrived, I registered for the Winkler Thanks for Giving Race (fundraiser for the food cupboard) and determined give it my very best. I scrapped the top 20/first female goal out of my mind and just prayed that God would give me the strength to finish in under 2 hours.

I made my way to the starting line with Pastor T, his amazin' wife Joanna (Sista'!) and John Froese (Bro Henry's big brother), who were all also running in the race.

And with a "ready, set... GO!" the race began.

First couple of miles were some of the hardest mentally, yet the easiest physically.

The race course for the half marathon was 2 loops, so while I was seeing mile markers for the first, second, third (ect) mile... I was also seeing seven, eight, nine (ect.). I fought with the reality of the length of the race, and just kept telling myself that before I knew what was happening, I would be on the second loop and headed to the finish line.

My first four miles I averaged at right around 8:30 min/mile and after I got through that first mental

block... I was feeling pretty good. My amazing family (mom, dad and Ker) cruised around town and

would stop at corners and stop signs to cheer me on. It was quite motivating to know that my family

was supporting me. It made me want to do better than my best for them. I heard many a race volunteer chuckle as they heard my name being chanted and cheered :)

(my fam. is the best... just so you know :)

There was a 5k (which Pastor T and Joanna were running) and a 10K (which John was running) going on at the same time as the half marathon. As I was running the first 5ish miles, there were some people that passed me by, it was somewhat discouraging until I saw on their race tags that they were all in the 10k and were picking up speed in their last mile.

There was one stretch that really wore on me in which I was running straight into the 30km wind. I wanted to walk soooo bad, but instead I gave myself a little pep talk, and picked up my pace. I made it through ok (albeit a little bit slower), but it was knowing that I had to go through that again later that really got to me.

Running through the finish line that marked almost-half-way was quite exhilarating. Especially upon seeing not only my family (gram and gramps Pauls included!) cheering me on... but also the folks who had already completed their races (in which they all did AMAZING!) and John's sweet wife Cheryl. They all stood out there in the freezing cold just to support me.... I felt so loved and was even MORE determined to give it my all.

My 10k time was just over 55 min.

I was now on the second loop and every single step was bringing me closer to that finish line.

Everything was going great until just after mile eight when I felt a sudden sharp pain on one of my toes... I realized that the bandaid that I had put on one of my toes to prevent a blister had rubbed and created a new blister on my other toe,which had now popped and was rubbing bandaid on flesh. I entertained the thought of stopping to take that bandaid off... but told myself that I could handle this, I just needed to keep going. I prayed that I would be able to get my focus off the pain and back on to the race. Amazingly, not only was I able to take my mind off it, but the whole incident made me run faster. I was able to go back into my "zone" and I just put one foot in front of the other.

Around mile 10 I came back to that notorious windy spot, but was delighted to find that I didn't have to do it alone. Taking turns dad, mom and Joanna ran with me. Joanna played the song "Overcomer" by Mandisa on her phone as she ran with me, I felt like crying with joy as I felt not only the love from these amazing people, but also the love from my God. Definitely picked me up after that rough spot!

Later on down the road John jumped out of his van and ran the last 2 miles with me, even though he had already completed a 10k himself. (Once again feeling SO blessed to have such an amazing church family!!!)

After hitting mile 12, I really started struggling... my legs felt like they were going to fall off and every single step was taken in pure exhaustion. Two women passed me in the last half mile (which I will never forgive myself for!), my lack of training was catching up with me. As they passed, I wondered if I was now the last person running the half-marathon, I certainly didn't think that I was doing that well. I had refused to let myself look at my overall time on my Garmin, only my pace (which was sadly decreasing) as I ran along, so other then the 55 min. that I saw as I passed through the finish line the first time, I had no idea where I was. I was quite certain that I was already past my 2 hr. goal.

With less then a quarter mile to go, Pastor T came and joined us. He told me how I was doing (WAY better then I expected!), and that was enough to encourage me to the finish line.

As I neared the end, I saw my time and I realized that I was like 15 seconds away from going over 2 hours! I sprinted as fast as my body would allow and my official time became 1:59:56!

And so... with a bloodied and blistered toe, and an injured quad muscle....

I FINISHED A HALF MARATHON!!!! And my first race :)

And I give the praise and glory to God for it! There were so many days during training that I felt like I could not even run, let alone run the x amount of miles on my training schedule. So I'd pray "God, I don't feel like I can do this today, I need your help!" And He came through every single time. I came to learn that it is my job to keep putting one foot in front of the other and to do my best.... then God will do the rest.

Do I plan to continue running? You bet! I already have my sights set for a full marathon next year.

I have found a passion for running that I never knew I had. And I now know that I love racing!

And for those of you who think "wow, I could NEVER do that!" Remember that I had to start somewhere too, I remember the day that running a half mile was a HUGE victory for me! You've just got to take that first step and then keep at it until you have reached your goal.

If I can do it... you can do it too!

Philippians 4:13

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Official Results:

1:59:56

Average Pace 9:01 min/mile

33rd out of 59 overall

7th female finisher out of 26

2nd out of 8 in the 20-29 female age group (I actually got the first prize for this age group... but official results show that I was second by 10 seconds :)

Garmin Stats and Route

Today...