Wow!! I can't believe it's been 11 days since I've written anything here. Alot has happened as far as my running goes. ... wow.. I just read the excitement of 2.4 miles and just two days ago I ran 51 minutes at 4.7 miles!! I shake my head and I thank my God for the endurance to continue.

Today I ran with my hubby and we did 3.6 miles in 41 minutes. He starts out soo fast and it messes me up. I was blessed today as I had a major attitude with him about an insecurity in me and he just loved me through it while we ran. :) i love him...

I still haven't weighed myself since I had gained back two pounds of the 4 that I had lost. My clothes are MUCH more comfortable now and looser!! It's noticable, so that's nice. :)

I've been running everyday. I do think at times my legs need a day to rest, but my emotional well being totally needs to get a run in everyday!! amen~! After doing these longer runs I did take a break and I ran only ...(lol, ONLY) 2 and half miles the other day. Geesh that was my celebration 11 days ago!! This truly has been fun. Thank You Lord!!

love, anne :)

Just a note to my post below.. it was 2.4 miles!!! woo hoo~ !!!

26 minutes baby!!!!

I don't know the mileage yet. I'll track that this afternoon sometime. :)

I used my husband's father's day gift that I haven't given him yet. It's an rca mp3 player. I loaded upa word that was spoken to me last year and a Joyce Meyer teaching on love. I LOVED it. I can't wait until I get my nano ipod so that I can track my 'stuff' online with Nike AND download many wonderful inpsirational teachings and music.

Well, that's all for now...

Thank You Lord for this continued growth and emotional, physical and spiritual healing in all areas of my life.. In Jesus name.. amen.

I ran 21 minutes yesterday! I didn't do any mileage but I was assuming that it was my 2 miles that I've been trying for... :)

Today I ran 22 minutes and I clocked my run at 2.1 miles!! Woo hoo! That is so amazing to me.. the 'non-runner' :) I loved it.

I started a different route yesterday... that helps alot when I change it up... I think that I don't know how it feels to end because I've never gone that way before. :) I did the same route today but added a few more tenths on it to make the 2.1 miles. I'm hoping for a 25 min run tomorrow.. or I was thinking about doing a 15 or 20 min run with a 2 min. break and then seeing what I could do after that. I'm still pondering which avenue I want to attempt. I'll contemplate it and see if I can hear what God thinks about this plan.. He does order our steps, so I'd like to follow His way, since it is the better way. :) That's why I'm running in the first place.. He ordered these steps and I saw them in my dream. Thank You Almighty God. :)

So, just a few notes of other interest. I bought my husband his Father's Day gifts today. One is an RCA sports mp3 player for when he runs on the road. It's simple with a sports band to put on his arm. I like it.. I hope he does too. AND I got him a Harley Davidson watch. He hasn't had a watch in almost a year and so this one is the watch of all watches I'm sure he'll think. :)

We started a 40 day prayer challenge for couples in march and we are still praying together.. it has been the best thing EVER for us... for me I know. What a treasure the words he prays mean to me. God sends the words down, we speak His heart back and then He moves in power. Thank You heavenly Father for this wonderful, wonderful gift. I know in these peri times I've been weird and many times angry and hateful... but You knew I would be experiencing this stuff and You have covered me. Forgive me and thank You. Bless all the words we pray together in Jesus name.. amen.

Yesterday morning I ran with my husband. We started out doing the same run I did the day before, but planned to turn back at the 1 mile mark and redo our first mile without stopping.

I was extremely winded at 15 min. which is what I had done the day before... but kept going for another two minutes. I ended not very far from my driveway but I just couldn't go any further. I was getting a diaphram pain and was beginning to feel a bit nausiated. We did 17 1/2 min. which was better than the day before... and that's good. :) I wanted to be able to do the full 20 min and finish with the two miles without stopping... maybe today, eh?

I like running with my husband, but it does throw you off a bit. Sometimes the listening of his pace (which he slowed down to run with me... but says he goes farther because of that... true), or just having a small conversation about the time or pace or where to go, etc... adds an element of obstacles it seems. It's good for training to be around others anyway. Yesterday he was cheering me on when I was running at the end, I know he was hoping to get me to our driveway and sending me encouragement for that, but I was getting irritated by it... I think once or twice would have been fine but I was so needing to focus on getting there that he was throwing me off..... that's crap, ya know... I don't want to be irritated by him cheering me on... :) It'll get better :)

so last night my knee was pretty swollen. I took a run break 2 days ago and then ran my 2 miles yesterday. the air was sooo thick it seemed as though I would only make it through half of my 1st mile. I ran with Angie. We ran an exact 9 min. mile. (I think I may have to recheck the mileage distance when putting in my last two tenths. I need to make sure they are really two tenths. Anyway... after a 2 min. break from the 1st mile we split up. I had to stop and walk about 30 seconds about 3/4 through my second mile!! my nose was plugged up and I was really breathing heavily.

So, as my knee was swollen last night I made the decision that I was not going to run this morning. .... well, I woke up with my knee in better condition that I had thought it would be. I really desired to run. I talked with Jeff and asked to borrow his new mp3 player. We downloaded a free Joyce Meyer mp3 and off I went. I decided I was just going to go for time today.. not even sure how much time as I wanted to take it easy on my knee. I started off in one of my usual routes and decided to take a new further route to see how I would endup. I suprised myself. I ran a full 15 min. and loved it!! I had the ipod set and it was awesome just listening while running!! I'm ready for my own now! I went over the mileage of where I ran this morning and it was 1.4 miles. So I ran almost 1 and 1/2 miles without stopping. I'm happy with that...as my goal right now is to do 2 miles without stopping.

My running shoes are Nike Air Pegasus and they come with a monitor that hooks up to a nano ipod. I am going to purchase an ipod now and download great teaching mp3s and great music to run with . The ipod tracks my mileage, calories, improvements and also gives me goals and etc. I'm looking forward to seeing how I progress throughout the rest of the summer.

I will talk about my summer allergies a bit as I fight the elements also. Always a challenge in my life it seems when summer hits. I'm ready to run tomorrow!! However Jeff will have his ipod with him. I will be running without... until I get mine.

the allergies..... where do I begin?? Summer has been a challenge for me since I was pretty young. I lived on a lake all of my childhood and until and married at 19. I remember swimming at one of my Grams' friends house on a styrofoam raft and that was the first time I remember breaking out from swimming. It seems from that time on I experienced breaking out. We didn't really discover that the allergy actually came from the lake water. I was on a strict food and sun diet for most of the summer. Then one day I took a little friend wading at the lake and my legs broke out..we knew then that it was the lake that I was allergic to. That was unfortunate because I LOVED swimming as a child. I still remember what the posts under the docks looked like as i swam like a fish underwater.

I also experienced MANY sunburns as a child and when I was 18 I began to experience an edema in my face from too much sun exposure and an allergic reaction to sweat on my face, especially in humid conditions. If I get a sunburn on my face, neck or shoulders I need to ice myself for a good 24 hours to keep the heat from staying in my skin and causing an edema. If the edema happens then I break out in very, very tiny blisters and my face swells like I have a severe case of poison ivy. After about a week of the most uncomfortable skin irritation the skin on my face begins to dry up and begins to shaffe off. My knew skin is beautiful and soft... I think it might be some type of 'dermabrasion' :). I have not had it happen in years as I'm extremely careful when out in the sun. I begin my spring in the tanner. When I begin to tan I tan for about 2 1/2 min. the first time. Then to five and it may take a couple of weeks to get up to the full 20 min. That tends to give me a type of immunity to the potential of a quick sunburn. I also have to watch getting too hot when it's humid and my face can't dry itself. As soon as I'm done with my run I am in the shower cleaning my own sweat off of my face because it acts like an irritant. I wonder if more humid conditions may carry a larger quantitiy of pollens in the air that would tend to irritate my skin also. After I shower, it can take a good hour for my reddened face to finally get back to a normal skin tone.

Thanks for listening...even if it is just you and me Lord.... :) I am noticing changes and I thank You! I'm asking for healthy knees.. just as You have touched my feet... and I'm asking for tolerance to the heat... and I'm asking for more miles and continued improvement in my emotions and furthering my distance AND to be 'fat free'!!! :) ahh....
Love, anne

I'm at Two miles!!!! :) wooo hooo!

Monday I ran my a mile... took a two minute break and started off to see how far I could go from there. I made the second mile which blew me away! So, each day since Monday I have done the same. My knees have definately been affected by this running thing so I have iced them everyday. Yesterday morning my husband ran with me the first mile. He's a bit faster than I, having alot of heighth on me. So I took off first. He caught up with me at about a half mile and then slowed down a bit, we ran at his pace most of the next half mile so that pushed me some. Unfortunatley we didn't happen to time it that day so I don't know how much faster I was. My miles have been at 9 min. but I know this one was a bit faster.

I took today off. I really don't want to injure myself to the point of not being able to run. I do want to continue to run the two miles to take some weight off. I know I've gained alot of muscles in my legs and they look much better, but that really doesn't help out if your trying to watch the scales. So, I know I need to give up scale watching AGAIN and really just try to feel the trimming and toning through how my clothes look and feel on me.

My hubby bought new running shoes this weekend, which he definately needed. We both got a nice running suit and some t's and shorts. I'm looking forward to this bringing us even closer. Sharing this experience together. He is faster than I am, but he isn't doing the whole two miles yet.. so if I can take the headstart and then we can run out the rest of the first mile together that will be great. He's a great cheerleader when he get's ahead of me anyway. :)

I'm still dealing with emotional issues and sometimes in the middle of a run I will end up crying over some issue. But that's only been a couple of times.

My goal right now is to get body fat eliminated. I think that's a pretty big goal, but it can be done... if my knees hold out for me!! I'm an apple shape and so I don't hold the excess weight so much in my legs and butt like a 'normal' woman... I end up with it in my mid section from my upper arms, back, breasts on down to my hips. My legs have muscled up nicely and I've had a butt lift for sure! lol.. I've definately toned in my mid section as my family has noticed, but it's not where I desire it to be. I've never really accomplished it to the complete of how toned I have desired to be. So at this stage I'm really determined to get there. It's makes summers much more comfortable and life less hindered when fat isn't an issue.

What a waste of time fat can be. I realized going through the closet, trying on and then taking off to find something that looks a bit bette that I'm wasting so much time. And then there's the time at some point putting all those discarded clothes back on hangers or back in the drawers. It's truly a waste of time.. of precious God given time. I dont' want to waist that kind of time anymore. :)

Well, I think that's all for now. I'm excited to run my two miles again tomorrow!! I'm praying for healthy, fat burning runs.

thank You Lord for this opportunity...and for all that You are showing me. In Jesus name...
love, anne