Wide-angle Wednesday

Sharing another running shot that I took at my photo shoot on Sunday.  I was so excited when the mother of these children remembered that I had taken some previous shots of her daughter running and asked that I take some more! 

Lest you think I'm bias for running shots (ahem...since I am)  I take JUMPING photos too! ;)

 I hope everyone is having a nice week!  I'm trying to convince myself NOT to run this morning, I ran the last two mornings and I'm worried my body is going to revolt at some point if I push too much.  I was going to just run a couple times this week and then I have the Glow Run Saturday night, but I seem to be in a 

gotta-run-every-day-mode!  

I feel fantastic, but I am so paranoid about injury that I keep telling myself I cannot run daily because I might hurt myself.  Anyone else do this?  What do you think about running daily? Yay or Nay? 

That about says it all...

Yesterday I had a photo shoot and took some shots of this adorable little girl.   This morning I went out to run four miles and I was thinking of all the amazing words I might put with one of my favorites to explain how running makes me feel.  Joy, freedom of childhood, beauty...my mind kind of got lost in thought (which was a good thing because it was crazy-hot-and-humid! Shew!)  When I got home and went to add all my eloquent words, this came out instead...no more words necessary. 

 Hope everyone is off to a good start to the week!  Is it hot there?  This was the first really hot and humid morning and I felt it!

 

Happy Friday-Summer!

It's Friday AND the first day of Summer!  Yay! I hope everyone enjoys it.   For some reason, I ended up at the gym instead of a lovely first-day-of-summer run outdoors.   It was a bit muggy and Dallas wanted to run on the treadmill, so I relented and decided to make the most of my long run and enjoy zoning-out while running.   I love the lake pond view and watching the ripples in the water and the reflection of the clouds. 

So I was thinking (by now you should know this usually means a ramble...) about why THIS scares me so much:

 

The free weights area.  I have no idea what my dealio is, but I keep SAYING I'm going to cross train and do some lifting and then I don't.  A few reasons, I think.  The first and most obvious is that I'm obsessed with running.  I try to schedule cross training days, put myself in old sports bras and bad socks (trying to deter myself from running) and still end up running instead of cross training.  I KNOW I need to do it and that it will better my running in the long run, but I just don't wanna! 

*said in my best pout/whiny voice*

The second reason would be that I prefer the weight machines.  For some reason these are less intimidating.  I feel like walking over to that area and grabbing free weights puts me on display somehow.  I like my corner on the treadmill, facing out to the lake where I feel totally alone and can pretend no one else is watching.  Does anyone else feel this way?  Sigh.  I just need to schedule the days and DO IT.   *shudder*

So! Despite all my thinking,  it was a fantastic run this morning.  I wanted to get a longer run in before my weekend got crazybusy with petsitting.  I pushed just a bit to speed up my pace.  I did 5 miles in 53 minutes, which I think is one of my fastest 5 mile runs.  Felt fantastic!  I had to clean up my mess afterwards, I dripped sweat all over the place.  Yep.  I took a picture! LOL

am I the only person that sweats profusely?  I was seriously completely soaked.  I came home and enjoyed a big glass of chocolate almond milk.  YUMMY! 

Now I'm ready for the weekend, which means work...but it involves all sorts of furry-lovey-snuggly-pets, so I'm looking forward to it! I love my job.

I  hope everyone has a fantastic jump into Summer and a great weekend.  Any special Summery plans?  

Do you have trouble making yourself cross train?  Any suggestions?  What's your favorite cross training activity?  

Wide-angle Wednesday & a GIVEAWAY WINNER!

For those of you that are new to my blog, I'm a photographer as well as a runner, so every Wednesday I have Wide-angle Wednesday and I share one of my shots.  Today I announce the Rock City Skirt giveaway winner, so I found this shot appropriate. 

A bonus win today for the first person that can tell me WHERE in Disney World this photo was taken.  Let's see how many fellow Disney-lovers I have reading!  The winner will get a few running-fuel goodies from my stash. 

Without further rambling...(which you know is challenging for me! LOL)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

  Congratulations Katie Guymon Williams!  Check your inbox!  

So who knows where my mystery shot was taken?

Rainy Father's Day

Good Monday morning to you!  I hope everyone had a fabulous Father's Day weekend.  I'm a bit scatter-brained this morning, it was a fun weekend and ahem...I had a bit of whipped cream vodka last night with friends, so it may take a bit for me to put my thoughts in coherent order here! ;) 

If you are new to reading my blog, my husband Rey just recently went back on the road after being home recovering for eleven months with a rupturing a disc in his back.  It was hard having him gone again, but he came home just in time for Father's Day weekend!

 

 Savannah spent the night out for a birthday party, so it was just me and my guys yesterday morning.  We decided to go for a walk and realized only when walking out the door that it was raining.  Ah well, I love running in the rain, so walking in it works too!  It was a blast and I'm glad we didn't change our minds.  The dogs even enjoyed it.   Dallas & I had fun racing/sprinting up a few hills (you KNOW I cannot go out for a walk and not run just a bit!)

We were soaked!  I don't think you can see how wet we really were, but I eventually had to take my glasses off because I couldn't see through all the water on them. 

The rest of the day we spent playing poker and then had our good friends over for drinks and games last night.  It was a great day, although I'm not sure how my run will go this morning after having a few drinks last night!   Oh, and I'm excited to try Energybits this morning, I have been wanting to try them for a while, I'll do a  review after I see how they make me feel. 

I know, this was a pretty dull update, but they can't all be epic, right?  I'm actually a little nervous blogging lately, I have more followers than I really ever anticipated!  Thanks to all the new likes and followers.  If you want to know a little bit more about me, there are a couple tabs at the top of the page with info on my running story and why I chose the Princess Half for my first Half Marathon.

Don't forget to enter the  Rock City Skirt Giveaway  if you have not already!

What did you do for Father's Day?  Do you like to get out in the rain for a run or walk? 

GIVEAWAY! Who Wants Some Sparkly?!?!

I'm doing my first giveaway!  I'm pretty excited, I'm sure you cannot tell from the plethora of exclamation points!!!  I wanted my first giveaway to be something I really loved myself, so what better than a sparkly running skirt??!  Those of you that have been following me know that I have been collecting tutus and I'm forever planning my race outfits based on their sparkle.

Rock City Skirts has generously offered to give one of their sparkly skirts away on my blog.  Amy Maust, the owner of Rock City Skirts,  started making these skirts for herself to run in and her business grew from there.  I love that this company is  owned and operated by a runner.  Amy knows what the shape and feel of these skirts should be, because she's a runner herself. 

  I picked Cotton Candy because I didn't have anything pink yet in my running wardrobe.  (I know, you're shocked.)

Anyway, I have worn it a couple different ways, it's so versatile.   I can wear it down on my hips and it does not slip up at all,  but I also found that I really liked it up on my waist too.  I have not seen a lot of people wear them this way, so that's how I put it on for this shot.  I don't have the "typical" runners body and I think it's flattering to a variety of body types, I really like that. 

 It's super lightweight and does not interfere with my running in any way and the elastic on the waist is great, no sliding up or around, it reminds me a lot of my spibelt.  Every girl needs a little sparkle in her life, especially when she's pushing her limits and sweating gallons! 

Time to enter for your own!  This is also my first time using Rafflecopter, I think everything is in order, hopefully.  The Giveaway runs until the 18th at the strike of midnight (don't be late Cinderelly!)  I will announce the winner on Wide-angle Wednesday, June 19th. 

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Getting personal

First off, SHEW!  What a difference a day makes in a run (and my mood).  I don't normally run two days in a row but I just really wanted a do-over of yesterday's run.  I went out super early, the street lights were still on, and I just ran wherever I wanted.  I even tried out my new hat from Target, it worked really well!  (excuse the early morning grainy shot!)

 I wasn't running any faster or slower than yesterday, but I knew right away it was going to be a good run.  I just let everything go and ran. It was fantastic.  I ran out to my favorite path that always smells so good, there's tons of honeysuckle.  Pretty weeds flowers all along the path too! 

 So, what's so personal about that?  It was what was going on in my head that was personal.  

 I really let go of everyday life stuff and enjoyed the run.  At some point I had a little flash of a familiar picture in my head.  It's something that for years has occasionally popped in my head (do you have those kinds of things?  Memories of something pop in your head out of nowhere?) but more and more as I got older and started running.  I have never shared this with anyone, I don't think, so it feels pretty personal to put it out here...

When I was 12 or 13 I read a book.  I have NO clue what book it was (you can tell me if you  figure it out).  I have a feeling it was a Judy Bloom book.  I was very unhappy as an early teen, for lots of reasons, hormones and such, but probably what I allowed to effect me the most was my weight.  I was so consumed with what everyone thought of me, I'll take the blame for some of this, but being teased for years in grade school can take a toll.  

So, back to this book.  In the book, a girl, just like me, was teased and treated horribly by her schoolmates.   One summer, she decided she had had enough and went out into her back yard and ran in circles.  She ran and ran around her yard, all summer, dieted, and in the fall she was thin. (yes, totally realistic!  Sheesh.)  She went to a masquerade party with a mask on and no one knew who she was, but they all wanted to be her friend.  She tricked them, I remember that but not much more. The gist, she proved that she was still the same person and they were shallow, horrible people...or whatever. 

 I remember wanting so badly to do what she did.  I think I even went out and ran around my back yard once or twice.  I yo-yo dieted as well.  Ugh.  I  remember wishing and hoping I could show everyone how wrong they were to judge me.   I never did though.  I thought I didn't have enough willpower.   I struggled and my self-esteem suffered.

Obviously I didn't realize at the time how wrong the author was.  Sure, she was trying to point out that people are shallow and shouldn't judge, but I have realized something since then.  It wasn't that I didn't have willpower, it was that I was not only wanting it for all the wrong reasons, but I was looking in all the wrong places.  I was looking outside myself.  Looking to change just the outside for all the people on the outside. 

Those times when I realize I'm REALLY RUNNING and I'm really doing it, it's not for someone else.  It's not to prove anything to anyone, it's not to get skinny and have people like me.  It's for ME. It's inside, not out.  I feel strong, focused, and  accomplished.  Running isn't really about the outside, it's inside you, where you have to dig deep and push through.  I think I somehow thought if I looked the way others wanted me to, then they would see who I am, but I had it all wrong.  You have to find yourself  IN yourself and FOR yourself.  Oh geez, this is harder to put into words than I thought and I'm getting all philosophical.  

The bottom line is that I feel like I am more myself running than any other time and it has not a single thing to do with what I look like. (ok, that's a lie, I do love my cute running skirts and tutus! LOL) 

 When the vision of that girl popped into my head this morning I thought about how running is healing the hurt girl that I was.  I longed to run back then because I thought it would make me look the way I wanted to look.  It turns out that running is far more rewarding than I  had ever imagined. The way I look seems to only be a nice perk that doesn't mean much in comparison to the other things I have gained.

Has running healed you or made you a stronger person on the inside, in any way?  Did you ever think, before you started running, that running was such a "heady" activity?