Running Partner

Calvary's Isabella

I would like to introduce you to my running partner. Her name is Calvary Isabella or Bella for short. She is a Miniature Australian Shepherd. The breed is just like standard size Australian Shepherd, just a little smaller. I got Bella when she was 8 weeks old. She is now almost 4 years old. Australian Shepherds (Aussies) are known for their intelligence and willingness to please. Bella has just that. She is incredibly smart and loves to be with me at all times.

Bella is about 30 pounds and is a red-tri coat pattern.

She is also very out of shape at the moment. Aussies have a double coat, making the Florida Heat kind of tough on her during the summer months. I plan on getting back in shape along side of my trusty pal.

Bella loves to go for runs, however she thinks it is appropriate to potty every quarter mile or so. On day one of our training run she pooped three times, and peed and uncounted amount of times. I am hoping that she will get better as we run more, because it slows our pacing down.

Obedience is a major factor when taking a dog for a walk or a run on a leash. Bella is really good about listening to me on and off the leash making her controllable around people and other dogs. However, if there is another dog she gets really excited and wants to play most of the time.

Now that the weather is getting cooler I hope to take her with me on most of my runs, so stay tuned to my posts to find out how she is doing with her training runs as well.

Zeus

I couldn't write a post about Bella and not include Zeus. This is Bella's little brother. He loves his picture being taken.

Day 1 of Training

It is official I have started training for the Disney Princess Half in February. My goal is to finish the race in 3 hours or less. There are a lot of training plans out there for half and full marathons to follow. I am going to try and follow Jeff Galloway's training plan. His plans usually include a long run on the weekend then two 30-45 minute runs during the week. I am going to try and do three shorter workouts during the week to get in shape quicker. Or at least that is my plan. Last night I was trying to figure out the best time of day to try and get my runs in. I don't really like running with the jogging stroller, because it slows my pace, and it is kind of hard to push. Well after talking with the hubby I decided that unless I can find a cheap tread mill and run when Addie is sleeping that it is best to just push her in the stroller. With hubby's work schedule we never know when he will be home. One week it could be 5 PM every day, then the next week it might be 8 PM. I could try and run early in the morning, but running in the dark around my neighborhood doesn't sound appetizing to me.

Water Hazard on the Golf Course

So day 1 of training started today. I loaded the stroller, the car seat, the baby, the diaper bag, the dog (i decided she needed to get in shape too), and me in the car to drive to the path I mapped out.

We live relatively close to a retirement community and they have golf cart paths that follow all of the main roads through the community. One of the paths travel like 20 miles or more through the community from one town to the next. The path is nice and paved, plus the landscaping is pretty.I parked at the sheriffs department at the beginning of the path and unloaded all of the above list.

I am the typical first time mom. I packed everything I could possibly need for Addie. Wednesday when I go to run again, I am NOT carrying nearly as much stuff. Is there a reason why I think I would need a fully stocked diaper dag? I don't know, maybe, but I doubt it.

Anyway back to my run today. We started out great! A nice warm-up followed by run/walk intervals. I had planned on running .20 miles then walking 2 minutes. I did that about once then had to start running shorter distances. My running partner Bella (a miniature australian shepherd) is very out of shape as well. At about 3/4 of a mile she started slacking way behind. We were running early this morning, but it was still kind of humid out. I started running less and walking more. The whole 2nd mile we pretty much walked back to the car. It is going to take some time for her to lose some weight and being a productive running partner, but that is what team work is for.

I must of made her bored.

The running path is a golf cart path that is about 12 feet wide and nicely paved. However, the drivers of the golf carts are not so nice. Some of them were really nice and gave me a lot of room when they passed, but some... not so much. Also, the path is mostly straight, but there is some turns. Those turns... how can I say this nicely... some of those drivers think they are in the golf cart version of Nascar! They fly around the turns. I am pretty sure they are pulling an Earnhardt Sr. and throttling through the turns instead of braking! But we didn't have any near death experiences so I think this is my new running path. There is quite a bit of shade along the way as well. Some of the best qualities of this running route is the fact that the paving is smooth, there is shade, most of the people are friendly and wave or say good morning. and it is pretty much unlimited running. The road is called Buena Vista Blvd. It goes from one side of the community to the other, so it is probably 15-20 miles long total.

While on our run Addie must of gotten bored because she passed out in the stroller. Since this was the first actual run with her in the stroller I used the head support from the car seat. I am glad I did, because it supported her head when she fell asleep. She was a great running partner. Once we started going, I didn't hear one peep out of her. Normally she is a very "vocal" baby, but not today on the run. Either she slept the whole time, or she was really enjoying it.

Here we are midway through our run. She of course was sleeping, but I couldn't help getting such a cute picture of her!

The actual run wasn't that bad. I completed 2.06 miles. My pace was really slow because of all the walking. **And my dog thinks she must stop and potty about every quarter mile (Read about her here)** It was actually probably one of my slowest runs ever, but at least we got out there.

I am officially on the waiting list to be matched with a buddy for I Run 4 (IR4). The email says it could take 6-8 weeks before I get a match due to the over abundance of runners requesting matches.

With that said, if you know any one who is a runner and would be interested in being matched send them over to whoIrun4.com. Also, if you know anyone that is physically or mentally handicapped that would love to have a runner, or some one that has a child that is handicapped, please send them to the website as well.

On a side note... I listen to Pastor Mark Driscoll podcasts during my runs. He said some pretty awesome things: One of which was... "When good things become God things, they become bad things." He was preaching on one God and how we worship other things like: sex, money, people, things... It was something that really stuck with me.

The baby is awake now... Time to play. Stay tuned.

IRun4

God works in very mysterious ways. The other day I was thinking of writing a blog post about why or what I run for. I thought about all of the reasons I get out there on the pavement. Some of the reasons included: running to stay healthy, running to lose weight, to relieve stress, for God, and to run for those who can't. I think about the people who literally can't get out there an run. A couple days later I was reading some blog posts from other runners and came across one that was titled, "I Run 4." This post was about an organization called, "IRun4."  I took the time and looked at their site and read about the organization. It was started recently by someone who decided to dedicate his runs to a handicapped child that he knew. Well the idea spread like wildfire. It is now over 6300 people strong and growing in leaps and bounds daily. After learning a bit more about this group, I sent a request for my own running buddy. 

I truly believe that God sent me to this group. The group is not just for runners, it is for anyone that is willing to get out and run, walk, workout, or dedicate any type of physical activity to their buddy. I am still waiting to find out who my running buddy will be, but I am very excited and I am trying to have lots of patience while I am waiting. If you are a runner or know a runner please visit the website. 

Once I get my running buddy (and it is okay with the parents) I will share the joy with you. 

Turtle and Dog Run

My challenger tonight! 

Tonight was the first night I ran since my 5k on Sunday Morning. I was going to try to do a 2 mile loop, but by the time dinner was done and my hubby got out of the swimming pool, it was already 7 P.M. and I didn't want to run in the dark.

I asked Bella (my miniature australian shepherd) if she wanted to go for a run, and of course as all dog running buddies do she got super excited and ran to the door. I harnessed her up, tied my asics and set my garmin for a training run. I mapped out a 1 mile run around the block earlier so I decided to do that run tonight.

I ran past our old house during my run. It was bittersweet... Actually it was sweet, because I realize we got a much better house for a lot better deal. (God works like that sometimes)

Along the run, Bella and I almost ran right past "Our challenger!" He was a little baby gopher turtle. He was on the side of the road eating supper when I stopped to take his picture. He didn't really like me getting that close to him, but stuck his head out anyways.

Here is the funny part of my run tonight... When you run with a dog you risk the chance of said dog needing to "potty." Well I normally carry doggy bags with me, however tonight I figured I didn't need one since we were only going 1 mile. At about 1/2 mile Bella stopped to pee. I paused the garmin and the nike+ app and let her do her thing. We jogged on. At 3/4 of a mile she decided it was time to poop. Now mind you, our house is right around the corner. She kept trying to stop to potty along the way. I was trying to get her to the nearest empty lot so she didn't poop on someones lawn. What does my awesome little running partner do?

She stops in the middle of running and poops in the middle of the road. :-/ Not on the side in the grass... but on the asphalt. I did what any runner would do... I bowed my head in shame and jogged off hoping no one was looking.

Overall my run was really good. I didn't do intervals, I just ran till I wanted to walk and walked for a few steps then started running again. I really have to focus on running and training for the Disney Princess next year. I really want to beat my last time of like 3:30.

Today's run summary:

Miles: 1.19

Time: 14:36

Pace: 12:16

I analyzed my run on the Garmin website and figured that my running pace is about a 9:30 to 10:30. That is much faster than I thought it was. Now I have to build endurance to try and lessen my walking times.

I will leave you with a picture of my running buddy Bella:

This is Bella. She is a 3.5 years old Miniature Australian Shepherd. 

Playing Catch up!

Wow! It has been a long time since I posted! July and August were pretty hectic! Long story short... We were gonna buy the house that we were renting, then we found out the homeowners changed their minds and we had to move out in 30 days (with a 2 month old baby). I packed up our house, we looked for a new house, and I tried to find a place to rent until we could close on a new home all in 30 days. I truly owe it all to God in making it all happen. We made 4 offers on different houses. All of the offers were over bid. Just when we were going to give up. we found our house and made an offer. The seller went into negotiations with us. Three days later we signed a contract and started closing on a home. We literally closed on our house in 23 days!! When I said God helped us, I mean he opened every door possible for us to be new home owners. I will write a post on our home buying process soon.

We had to be out of our old house on July 31st, and didn't close on our new house until September 6th. Yes that is a month that we were "nomads."

He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you. Luke 17:6.

It is true that a little bit of faith goes a long way. We were two days away from being literally homeless and still no luck on finding a place to live until we found something to buy, when out of the blue a friend called me and said their neighbor has an old place that we could rent. Praise God on that one for sure!

Then it was supposed to take 90 days to close once we got a contract signed. God was looking over us again and we closed in less than 30 days.

The inspection passed, the appraisal passed, the paperwork on the banks side only too 5 days. We moved in the day we signed the papers.

We are now home owners instead of renters. Our house is perfect in every way for us. My blogs outline now includes home-ownership as well as running and DIY. Another wonderful thing about our new home. It is only 2 streets from where we were living, and we love the neighborhood.

A lot has happened since my last blog post. I will try to get caught up and stay up-to-date with blog postings.

An update on Addie is in the making.

-Jenna

My 1st 5k

I completed my 1st 5k Sunday. I "ran" a half marathon in 2012 with a friend, but never formally trained for any event. I found this 5k and thought it would be the perfect race for me to get back in shape after having our little girl. I started running again at the end of June about 8 weeks after delivery. I created a wonderful training plan... however I didn't stick with the plan. I tried running 2 or 3 times a week, but I knew I would be no where near able to run the entire 3 miles. With everything that happened over the past three months I didn't focus on running as much as I should have. My sis-in-law decided to run it with me so we registered together and started "training."

The night before the race I got everything ready. I had to leave my home by 4:15 AM to pick up my sis-in-law in time to make it to Orlando for The Color Run. My hubby was going to be home this weekend so he was going to watch the baby while I got "mommy time."

I picked up my sis and we headed to Orlando. We of course got there way early, but I hate being late for things. At 6:30 AM we headed to the packet pick-up. I figured there would be a line of people, but there wasn't anyone else in line. We got our race bibs and bags. **On a side-note, we got really awesome bags of goodies, but no where to put them while we ran our race** One of the other ladies that was running the race with us brought her kiddos and her hubby was staying with them while we ran. We utilized this and stored our goody bags under the stroller. 

We got there super early since we were planning on long lines. We got to relax for about an hour and a half before the start of the race. 

The Color Run is a 5k race that you get absolutely covered in colored powder. This is a race based more on having an awesome time rather than competition. 

Before the race!

We didn't run the entire race, but we did our best, and we finished covered in lots of colors. There were tons of people running this race. People of all ages; younguns, elderly, real runners and walkers. 

There is nothing like a good race to inspire you to continue training for your next race. 

After The Run

Pink Power!!