Closer to goal.

Do I dare come out on the internet stage? I fear tomatoes and rotten fruits being thrown at me for not uploading since April. No excuses, only reasons. Mom of three. Wife. Employee x 3. Home educator.

If the average woman is indeed a size 14-16 ... I am so close to not being average anymore. Am selling my average closes. Wonder what life is like, not being average. I will keep you updated.

This summer, I did not reach my Never Summer Mountain goal...yet... But I am getting closer daily. Finally.

I have learned so much about myself on this journey. First, the Lord is always with us. He is real and very near. His strength is my endurance.

Second, I am for sure older. The metabolic rate of my body is nothing. I was feeding it as if I was burning as many calories as my cute construction man, Brian James. Who am I kidding?

But I have learned, I am content with less and better foods. Seafood is now my friend. (which makes Brian very happy..he loves seafood) My steamer is a huge blessing. I put my frozen fish/seafood/chicken in my steamer with some veggies and wa-lah, I have lunch. I have cut red meat out except once/twice a week. Still walking and love it.

The Springfield Turkey Trot is coming up. I am excited to try again. I am lighter than last year. I am stronger than last year. I am mentally better than last year.

Am I am runner? Not yet.

I am excited about the weight loss I have experienced. Any pound from here on out is un-chartered territory as the last amount pounds are pounds I have lost over and over. Remember, I went from a size 2/4, a pregnancy, then a size 12/14. Then bigger. Then back. Then up. Then down. Around and around the diet wheel I have spun. Until now....

I was asked my goal weight was not too long ago. Honestly, I reported that I did not know. I have never been there to see what my body would respond to. So, we will see. One pound at a time. One day at a time.

There is a big difference though between this time and all the rest. Because of the Lord, I have not given up. I have reached the weight I was at 5 pounds ago, about 12 different times. The 'littler' clothes in my closet all stop at the size I am now. There are no smaller. There are no size mediums or smalls in my closet. If there are, it is because my teen daughters put away laundry in the wrong closet.

I ALWAYS quit me. When I reached that 'number' on the scale, I always quit before. Until now.

In April, the Lord spoke to my heart. It was a totally different issue that He spoke this matter to my heart, but it applied to many areas of my life. "Laurie, my daughter, I was for you all along."

He watched from the sideline as I quit running to my touchdown with only a few yards to go. He watched me fall, stumble, and run to the sideline of life. Turn to food, comfort, bad habits, self-comfort, and hide all over again. Time and time again.

If God is for you, who can be against you? The Bible reads.

I thank Him. He loves. He cheers. He is for me.

Therefore, I can do it. I can keep going.

Until next time ...

Still moving through ...

It seems that losing some extra weight in Feb and March was almost impossible. The scale did not move but the clothes are fitting much looser! The heart is recovering much faster. And the lungs are healthier as I can take in more air to continue. ENDURANCE... yeah!

My daughter Brooke and daughter Faithe have been working out with me. My eldest works out at a nearby place with her coworkers, although has a paid membership with her family at the only gym in Lebanon ...(hint, hint, Lindsey .. come on over and work out with us! )

Anyway, my Brooke and I have the same trainer. He is an athlete trainer and I think I am his only non-athlete client. Anyway she is a softball nut, and he is working to assist her improve her batting and fielding. Let me just say, this teenager daughter of mine, does not have much up on me. :) We are traveling every weekend for softball and her team took 2nd at the last tournament.

She can now flip a tire, 18 times in a minute, and I am up to 17. YEAH for Bennett chics. Her form is better than mine and she has some guns for biceps, and she lifts more weights that I, but when it comes to the functional part of our work out, I can keep up!

Faithe has been working out as well. Her trainer Brandi inspires her. Faithe is the cutest little kick-boxer there is! Kuddos to her for attending the last 4 kick boxing classes each Monday night and being the youngest and cutest ever! She is working out a lot....

I have not lost more weight (according to the scale), but have maintained and have for sure when down in clothes size. My man says I have lost more. YEAH. With spring here, I can work out more. In fact, the Bennett girl run each Wednesday morning. Before school starts here at the house, we get out for 45 minutes of a run/jog .. and pant up the hill. It is good for my heart to exercise with the girls. Tuesday is trainer day, Monday is kick-boxing day. Fri is training with my Melissa day, and the rest are on my own ...

Last week, I worked out hard everyday, and still schooled, worked at my new part time job, worked for Bennett Brothers, worked in the garden, and did mom/wife/house/taxi/common-stuff-for-everyday-women stuff ... I have more energy. And to think all those years, I thought I had no time for working out ..

The Polar watch is beeping for all the extra work! YEAH!

Garden season is here. I am excited. I have about 160 little tomato plants growing in my sun room. So many varieties! 65 peppers plants (they are for Brian). I planted 5 tomato plants yesterday. The early varieties of Stupice and Trip and they went into my raised bed. I am harvesting radishes now, and the spinach, peas, lettuce, onions, cabbage, and broccoli are all growing well. Faithe has potatoes and carrots popping up. Can not wait to move from comfort winter food to fresh-straight-from-the-garden-to-our-table food.

Be blessed ... Jesus loves you. Oh how He loves you.

Tire meets rubber band ....

Trained today with Tim. The Warehouse is open, the after-workout smoothies are yum and way healthy. It is the new happening place, you should check it out!

For the first time since my first workout with him, today I thought I might puke! I mean, I am doing all that he says to do. Rope day. Rope was good. Tire was good. 16 flips. I could do that ok.

THEN, he got all crazy one me. Tied me to a pole with some elastic band thingy, and then brought the tire to me and told me to flip it while tied up! WHAT? What in the world did you have for breakfast to make you think of this craziness. I am thinking your liability insurance man does not know you are doing this to your clients! :)

Ok, so I got 6 flips.

THEN the dork, untied me, but the band back around me and held on and said, 'Flip again.' Oh this will be fun, I thought. 'Be gentle', I warn. So, I am flipping and he is pulling me back and I am dying. 192 heart rate. and I am hearing birdies fly over head. Really I am! Black spots fill the eyes and I am going to puke! AND we are only 32 minutes into an hour long work out!

Needless to say, Tim Cole is indeed crazy, and I made it through, and did not puke. But the stars still circulated me for sometime.

Happy Groundhogs Day, I think I am going back into hiding too!!! I need a nap!

5K terror!

That was terrible. I mean it could not get worse. It is hard for me to even write about it.

My favorite weather man was calling for rain Saturday morning. Lots of rain. So I told myself, if it was raining when I got up at 4:30 AM, I was staying home. If not, I was running. Saturday morning, January 23, it was cold, but was not raining.

I did not eat the 5K prep meal the night before. To be honest, I thought that I would do better just on the fact that I was running longer and better than the last time I attempted. I was down in weight, so that was good. My mind was telling me this was going to be easier.

I eat an apple and a small yogurt on the way to Springfield. Drink some coffee. Ready to go! I arrive early because I had not preregistered. 6:30 AM. I set in my car after signing up and rested. Watched this crazy character warm up for an hour and a half! As I sat in my car, I would watch him run one way, run another. Come back across with this high knee bend runs, and back across again with lunges. Then when I thought he was done, in my rear view mirror, jumping jacks one way, and jumping jacks again. He was dressed is old time sweats with a sweatshirt hoodie. Looked like Rocky before a fight. He continued this for 90 minutes. I thought it would for sure wear him out. Sprint this way, sprint back. Stretch this way, stretch that way. It was for sure comical.

7:40, I get out of my car, warm up, stretch a bit and hear the chatter of the races. There are around 400 tagged racers. I hear all the things they are discussing and just warm my body. I was so cold, and it was misty. But no rain. Yet.

Women are called to the front as we will start 3:30 minutes before the men. 8:00 AM comes and off we go. I have a good pace, and start well. THEN, a cramp I have never know hits my side. I am doubled over. I slow down, still cramped. Tears fall. and more tears. I slowed to a walk. My first mile, and I am walking and being passed by a train of people. This is not good I told myself. So I started sucking in as much oxygen as I could. Still major cramping. It probably was not helping that I was in tears and between the crying and the cramping, I could not run. When I hit mile marker one, looked down at my watch and saw 18 minutes, I knew this was not going to be good. I thought that I should just turn around. But chose to keep on going regardless. I could not look at other runners as my sobs were louder and louder with every foot hitting the pavement.

Then, at mile 2, the cramping subsided, and I was jogging again. People were passing me on the way back, and I watch a flood of runner pass me as they headed back. I did not look back. I just kept going. and kept crying.

Between mile 2 and mile 3, two things happened to me that overwhelmed me. First, the woman that sold me the shoes, a 40 year old marathon runner, was guarding traffic and directing runners. When I saw her around the bend, and she looked me in the eyes and I smiled, she said straight to my eyes, "Atta girl, keep going." I lost it again as soon as she could not see me. Tears, a flood of tears. Why does this still bother me? Why does encouragement still send me to tears? I resigned to ponder that thought later so, I regrouped myself and kept on going.

Then, around another bend there was no race postman to tell me which way to go and I had no runners in front of me as they were all done, and only a handful behind me. I did not know which way to run. 'Are you kidding me, Laurie?', is what I heard my heart say. 'This is where you are. Still!' If I had not been able to see the buildings on Republic Road, I do not know which way I would have went. Because the first trek I made down this road before I reached the turn around, I was head down and crying and trying to convince myself to keep going. So, I did not know markers and I was lost. Behind ALL the runners, and lost. Tears.

I finally finish and see the timer. I would not walk past the finish line! So, I ran past it, 41:13. 15th from last, and looped around straight to my car and lost it again. My eyes were so flooded.

In retrospect, I did not respect the race. I did not respect the prep work for my body.

I am not running the 5K to win. I know I will not. That is ok with me. Really.

I am running these 5K's for simple reasons, but reasons that are mountains to me.
1. To Try my Body
2. To Finish Something
3. To Build for Tomorrows

AND, I have never loved the Lord my God with all my strength. Never. I would like to try. I know this is not what the verse means, as it means so much more than this. But my run, the journey does indeed build strength in me. And I will give it to Him for His glory.

A next race?? You might ask, ... yes, I am doing it again. My trainer says, no February races. At all. So, in March 2010 I will do another 5K.

I will let you know how it goes ... I covet your prayers for recovery. Emotionally & Physically.


P.S. I did not think it would glory the Lord at all to give Him this race, as I did my first one. So, I pondered whether to present it to Him. For this race was pathetic. I was by far the weakest: physically, emotionally, circumstantially, and daily, that I have been in awhile. But I gave it to Him anyway, because I know He will use it for His glory in spite of myself. He atones.

20 pounds!

Well, it is official, I have lost 20 pounds. It is slower that the trainer thinks it should be, and slower that I would want; BUT, it is good! I am down a jean size, and a shirt size. I can run for longer times. My heart can recover. I am not afraid of the cardio classes. I tried some jammies on that have been the back of the drawer for awhile, and they fit loose. I was happy about that.

The support from my friends and family has helped me the most. The education I have received from the trainers comes in a close second.

My trainer is almost opening his new gym so he has been swamped with prep work and I have not worked out with him in a long time. But on my own, I lost the 2 pound Christmas dinner weight. I was happy about that. I am telling you, fueling your body every 4 hours is a tool that helps me lose. When I can concentrate on that, I have much better weeks. When my to-do lists flood me, and I lose track of time, I am in trouble. I eat more, I act ravenous and eat too many calories.

My workouts are stronger. My running is farther. I am going to run the Starting Block's 5 K on Jan 23. I will let you know how that goes.... If I can only beat my time by one minute I will be happy! I mean, I will be happy anyway, but will be well pleased if I can do it!