The abililty to overcome the intense urge to give up...

So as I type I'm sitting at school doing "Parent Teacher Conferences." Which, for me, means sitting around after school for 3 hours doing absolutely nothing, or recarranging my room and grading papers (which I have already done) - because I give fair grades that parents aren't really surprised about, and I teach music. If you've got serious problems in music - you've got bigger things to be worried about.

This has been an awesome running week for me so far. I asked God for motivation to get out there every day and do it, and he has really come through in a big way. I won King of the Road last week in Owasso! I have my big shiny "Piece of the Road" at our apartment right now. I don't want to give it up! So this week I'm trying my hardest to pull out a win again. We'll see. There are people in Kings training for marathons, which made my win last week even more satisfying.

This weekend I'm running in the "Run your winter off 5K" at Stone Canyon. I run 5Ks all the time, but this one is special because I'm going to try for a new PR (personal record) in the 5K - under 30 minutes! My fastest time to date is 30:58 and this weekend I'm hoping to shave AT LEAST a minute off of that time. It'd be really awesome if I got like 27 this time or something, but 29:59 will do the trick!

The weight log that I have been keeping shows that since I have started training for this half marathon I have lost 7 lbs. and who knows how many inches. Thats awesome! I'm really trying not to make losing weight any part of my focus right now. Its seems that any time I try to do that it has the opposite effect. Trying to lose weight, stresses me out, in turn, making me either gain it, or stay exactly the same. I have changed the way I eat moderately. I usually eat a very healthy breakfast and lunch - lots of fresh fruits and vegitables with some protein and some must-have "running" carbs. I've also been having either a breakfast quesadilla or english muffin, which egg white and salsa and cheese. Delish! At dinner I just try to control my portion sizes and eat nicely balanced meals. Rice, pasta, and chicken are some of my favorites right now. I do enjoy a good turkey and cheese croisant, or some ground turkey nachos. New obessions as far as food goes: carrots, and applesauce. Yuuuuuuummmmm.

For my next nutritional adventure, I am going to explore the wonderous world of SMOOTHIES. I'm not talking your normal, run-o-the-mill Jamba Juice...I'm talking, SPINACH, LENTILS, AVOCADO, MUSTARD GREENS, CARROT TOPS - a GREEN SMOOTHIE. Of course these things will all taste better with some peaches, strawberries, blue berries, grapes, apples, and cuties oranges thrown in. I'm excited. I'm investigating how I could get away with supplementing some of my meals with these smoothies. We shall see. I'll post pictures ASAP.

The greater part of my planning period this morning I spent searching for and watching inspirational running videos. I found some really cool ones...and I also got some awesome and encouraging quotes from them.

This one is called: Why do you run?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eXqAWjJ_dE

And this one is called: Marathon collapse at finish line - body shut down (that title intrigued me)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUPadKgtYHw&feature=related

Yeah, it that last video, I especially liked the guy carrying his two kids across the finish line. Show off. The guy that the video is about actually collapsed and crawled across the finish line. Awesome times. What have I gotten myself into....

Here are some sweet quotes:

The grueling pain you share, and the abililty to overcome the intense urge to give up is the ultimate bonding experience.

When a runner finishes a race he either makes excuses for himself, questions whether or not he ran as hard as he could have, or lies at the finish, knowing that he gave everything he had.