New Year's in July!

New Year's always brings resolutions or new goals.  But we all know breaking down our goals to smaller pieces typically results in greater success.  Around New Year's I was still working on my two prior physical goals which was to run a half marathon and lose 25 pounds.  When I set these goals I was a little concerned that they might not be attainable, but I established a plan and just did the best I could each day.

As I've shared before I fell into the trap of allowing fitness to become my idol and had to reevaluate my priorities and make sure that God was first in ALL aspects of my life.  I'm currently going through Beth Moore's bible study 'David,' which I'm really enjoying (more on this journey at a later time)!  This has really helped bring my priorities back in line and draw me closer to Him.

After spending a lot of time in prayer, I've been able to refocus my priorities and establish some goals for the second half of 2013, which I'm really excited about.  First and foremost, my time in prayer in God's word is my first priority.  Time on the computer (or any other device at home) will not take place until my kids are in bed, ensuring that they don't feel like they have to compete with my time!  Keeping these areas, as well as my marriage balanced, will allow me to establish some new physical goals.

And without further ado, here's the new fitness goals!

1.  Run 1,000 Miles in 2013 (I've already run 503 thus far).  This will be a challenge, but I've got a plan and am just going to take one run at a time!  I use Daily Mile to log my workouts, which helps track my progress.

2.  Be able to plank for 7 minutes by the end of the year!  My plan is to begin with 1 minute planks and increase 15 seconds each week.  This will also be a challenge, but I'm hoping the increased focus on my core will help with reaching my first goal!

3.  I will also be using Turbo Fire as cross training on the days that I'm not running.  I needed something to change up my fitness routine to ensure that I'm working different muscles and ensure that I don't get bored!

One crucial lesson that I have learned over the last year is establishing a plan is crucial to success.  When I set up my plan to train for my first half marathon, I put every single workout on my digital calendar.  This ensured that I completed the workout and it also took a lot of thinking and planning out from day-to-day.  So, I set up the goals above, broke out the goals by weeks and then by day.  I'm still working on what the reward will be to myself when I reach these goals but I will get that figured out soon, which is half the fun of setting goals!  Here's a sample of my calendar for the next 6 months.  Having every workout established also helps me move workouts around if necessary when 'life' happens.

I'll admit, this process took me a considerable amount of time to put together, but I'm excited to have a plan in place!  I'll also be posting my weekly workouts on my blog for a couple reasons.  First of all to help hold myself accountable.  

The other reason is because I simply love running buddies.  If any of my girlfriends close by want to run with me on a day I'm scheduled to run, drop me a message and we'll set up a time and location (with a slight disclaimer that I usually run pretty early in the morning)!  I would absolutely love for you to join me for a warm up together, an entire run, or just whatever you have on your training calendar.  We're not on this journey alone and I ALWAYS welcome a running pal!  What goal are you setting for the second half of 2013?  Make it count!!!

Blessings to you on your journey,

Krystal 

God's Perfect Timing!

Earlier this year I made the decision to pick and enter a half marathon race.  At the time the farthest I had run was nine miles.  I was certainly nervous about setting such a large goal but was excited too as I had never set a goal that would require such discipline and commitment.  I entered to run the Slacker Half Marathon!  The race started at the Loveland Ski Area (10,630 feet elevation) and finish in Georgetown (8,400 feet elevation).  We decided we would leave around noon on Friday and head up to Dillon so that we could enjoy the evening as a family, have a nice meal and just enjoy the mountain view.  Two days prior to leaving for the race I ended up with a stress induced migraine.  As we were headed up to the mountains I still wasn't feeling great.  I was really worried about my body being fully recovered from the migraine and just simply getting anxious about my first half marathon race.

I was reminded during this experience to immediately seek prayer from a few dear friends.  Through several texts with these special ladies, I was reminded that God would give me peace, healing and endurance to get through this challenge.  They also reminded me that I have trained and prepared for this and to relax and give Him the glory!  I was FINALLY able to calm down and just enjoy the experience.  

We made it to Georgetown so that I could pick up my bib and have that ready for the big day. After we got back into the vehicle, I took a picture of my bib to begin sharing the journey of my first half marathon race.

It wasn't until I went to post the picture to my page that it finally hit me!  116, that number sounded familiar.  It finally hit me, Dunamis 116 is the team name of our original running team inspired by the verse Romans 1:16. "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile."  This was clearly not just a coincidence but a part of God's perfect timing and plan to work out every detail!  I was so excited to share this on my page and with the girls who were with me on this journey from the very beginning!  This gave me encouragement and immediately reduced my anxiety. I praise God for this special moment and it's definitely one I will never forget. 

We then headed to Dillon so that we could check into our hotel room and then have a nice meal. We found a wonderful pub to eat at. Look at these sweet faces!

Jayce definitely takes after his daddy, always goofy for a picture!

We then headed to the Dillon lake to let the kids play at the playground by the lake and enjoy the gorgeous view. God's creation is absolutely amazing!!!

The kids had so much fun!

It was then time to call it an evening, get the kiddos ready for bed and hopefully get a good nights rest!  It was so fun making this a special little mini family vacation!  These three have supported and encouraged me so much over this last year. They've even been there through the tears, sweat and pain along the way too. I love them each so very much!  

Stay tuned for how the big day went!  God continues to use this journey to teach me and draw me closer to Him, and for that I am incredibly grateful!

Blessings,

Krystal

Run For the Health of It!

Several weeks ago Josh and I registered for a local 5k race. It has been so much fun to enjoy running together and what an impact it has made on our marriage.  What began as a way for me to improve my health and challenge myself has now become a way to stay healthy as a family and grow incredibly close as husband and wife!  Several days before the race we started discussing our 'plan.'  Would we run together?  If we did, what pace would we run at?  I've been stuck in a rut for quite some time with my pace and haven't been able to drop below an average of 11 minutes per mile and Joshua recently ran 5 miles with an average pace of 9:15, so I knew a compromise was going to mean I was going to have to speed up and get past this mental block I've had.  So after a lot of discussion we compromised on an average pace of 10:30 per mile.  He continued to encourage me that I could break through my average 11 minute mile.

Here's a picture of us warming up and getting ready to start.  I had been looking forward to this race so very much but it had so much more meaning after Josh's accident!  We are on this journey of life together and we are closer now than we have ever been.  To be honest, every time I've seen a fellow blogger post about a workout or race with their spouse, I too have had that same desire.  I never pushed or nagged Joshua to join me and the morning he decided to run with me was absolutely amazing and our marriage has never been the same since!

Back to the race...  we finally got started.  After the first 1/2 mile our app told us we were at an average of 9:40, which for me was going to be way too fast to maintain (or so I thought).  I've been running for a year now and am getting the distance thing figured out, but the speed issue has definitely been a struggle.  My husband makes a race/run so much fun.  He would dramatically slide around every turn, periodically run sideways and give me a high five when I needed a little encouragement.  After completing the first mile we were still averaging under a 10 minute mile and mentally I was starting to feel like I needed to slow down, but Joshua was not having it.  Every time I even thought about slowing down he would reach back, grab my hand and pull me forward to be next to him again.  We finished the 5k in 30:07 (average pace of 9:41 per mile) which is still not terribly fast but it was definitely a personal record for me.  Joshua could have ran so much faster yesterday but this race was definitely all about running together.  I'm not sure which one of us was more excited.  He finished his first race, helped me reach a goal that I thought was completely unattainable and we ran right next to each other the entire race!

I think we had the best kids cheering for us at the finish line too!  On our way home Miss Kylee asked if she could run next time.  We'll definitely be looking at a 1 mile fun run to do with her this summer!

The Dunamis Divas were represented at the race too.  These girls mean so much to me as they have been a part of this journey with me since the very beginning! Love these girls and so very proud of them!

Run for the Health of It 2013!  Love my Runnin' Buddies!!!

Blessings,

Krystal

Dirty Girl Mud Run - The Dunamis Divas

The day was fast approaching for the Dirty Girl Mud Run last September after we had trained all summer.  I can't tell you how much it motivated us to have this race on the calendar way in advance and to just simply have a goal.  The Dirty Girl Mud Run is a 5k mud run/obstacle course.  This mud run is not timed, which certainly decreased the pressure.  The three of us were anxious, excited and maybe a little nervous.  Before race day Amy came up with our team name (which we will continue to use for future events).  Our team name is "The Dunamis Divas."

Dunamis is the greek word for "power."  Romans 1:16 says, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power (Dunamis) of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes..."  What a great verse to help inspire us for this race and races to come and to be reminded of the race we all endure each and every day!

We decided to have temporary tattoos made with our team name for us to wear, as well as our precious kiddos!

   Here's a picture of the kiddos there to support their mom's.

This was so fun to do as a family.  Having family there to support us (and take pictures) was so wonderful and a day we will never forget!  Here's a picture of my dear husband and our kiddos.

This one photo captured such a special moment for me on this day.  I love this little dude!

Well enough being cute, now it's time to get dirty!  Those that know me well know how much I enjoy playing in the mud, although I must say the water/mud was a little chilly on this September day.  Here we are getting warmed up at the starting line and practicing the signal for needing medical attention!

Here we are on our first obstacle!  It made us feel like kids again bouncing down.

Our kids and men were waiting for us towards the end of the race and captured some fun photos of us as we finished!

Look at these shoes!

I will forever love these Dunamis Divas as we have such a special bond that I will hold close to my heart as we began this journey together!

There's nothing more valued than accountability, encouragement and friendship among Sisters in Christ!  Love you girls and I can't wait to do another run with you!

If you've never done a fun run like this, I highly recommend you find a group of friends and put it on the calendar!  

You'll be glad you did!!!

Blessings,

Krystal