Oh.my.wind.

As some of you know, confidence in running (and maybe some other things) have been lacking. Mostly because I have been sick. But I have been feeling a lot better, so AA and I set out to run an easy peasy 5 miles yesterday after church and our meetings. Well let me tell you one thing people...this run was neither easy nor peasy (whatever that means). We knew the minute we got down to Alki that this was going to be hard. The water was Arctic blue and to say there were white caps would be an understatement. The wind was whipping through there stronger then I have ever seen it. But we put out nose to the ground and set off. It was hard to catch our breath and even get warm. It was 30 degrees with a 25 mph head wind. Lovely. We got to a mile and a half and we decided to turn around and have the wind at our backs. Oh wow! What a difference. We got back to our start point but still had 2 miles to go. We thought if we would go off the water into the neighborhood that would be better. NOT! We cruised for a mile and then turned around and the wind was worse then before. At one point I stopped and bent down because it was just way to cold. AA of course was an amazing man and encouraged me. He said he is taking advantage of me not being in my top form, "come on Shelby, keep going", "no it's okay Shelby we can go slower." Ha! I love it!

Well we finally finished, my head felt like it was going to explode, I mean literally, eyes popping out of my head. We both decided that was one of the dumbest things we have done in a long time. Got home, took a shower, finally warmed up to a normal temp, made some dinner, had my dad, Liesl and Nick over and then watched the COUGS kick some Husky butt! YAY! Sounds like a pretty awesome night to me!

I might be starting a new series on here; key word maybe. So keep your eyes out for that! For now let me remind you that I love ya, but Jesus loves you more!!

Confidence

Someone once told me "you have a lot of confidence." I wasn't sure how to take that. I still am not sure what to think of it. Sometimes when people have "confidence" they are cocky. And I DEFINITELY do not want to be that. And if you were to ask me my top 5 characteristics, confidence would not be even close to the top of the list. I mean, not even on the list at all. And what got me thinking about all of this was something that has happened this week. I was sick for pretty much the whole week (I think I might be feeling better, knock on wood!), and against my better judgment I stuck to my running plan. Well that just didn't work. I was sick with a chest cold, so when I started running, it was like I was gasping for air and my heart rate was WAY to high WAY to quickly. I couldn't run for more then 4 minutes. And of course because I guess I don't listen to my better judgment at all I tried and tried again, day after day. And each day I would get off the darn treadmill and be kind of sad. My confidence in running was completely out the window and I was supposed to be in full training mode. I even told AA last night, in a completely dramatized voice, "what if I never am able to run again?" Lord please help that amazing man!

Confidence is a funny thing. It is there one second and then completely gone the next. Thoughts?

Who am I?

First, do you like the new layout? I figured I would spice things up a little, because, well you know, I'm spicy? Anyway, this font is called "covered by grace." I almost fell off my chair right then and there. I love it! Now every time I look at this blog I will be reminded of what I truly am, covered by the grace Jesus has given me.

I am reading this book right now, and loving it. It is eye opening, heart breaking and overall great reminder to live as Jesus wants us to live, not because He tells us to, but because we have a relationship with Him. I was reading today and came across a great line, "I learned to equate what I did with who I was." I started to think about what that meant in my life. The chapter was talking about the past sin in our life and how we can equate some of the sinful things we have done with actually who we are as people. But as I started to think more about it, I started to think about the titles I put on my life: wife, sister, friend, runner, ect. And I started to wonder, are those titles overshadowing the one title that defines my life, Christ follower? I hope not, and after reading this I will make stronger efforts for that not to happen. What a good reminder for a Wednesday.

I'm baaaaaaackkkk.....

Yup, that's right! I really haven't gone anywhere. I have still been reading all your blogs, still running and still loving our Savior. I am not really sure why I stopped blogging...okay that is a lie, yes I do. First I got lazy! Second I didn't think anyone was reading. And third, I lost some motivation. I started this blog to chronicle the steps to my first full marathon and the lessons that God had for me along the way. And then when I finished said marathon I didn't really know the purpose of continual blogging. However, there have been many times when I have been running and I think, "I should blog about this," or when Jesus slaps me with a lesson that I needed to learn or even a quiet whisper of His goodness and I think, "yup this is blog worthy!" But then we go back to point numero uno...I got lazy. So today, Tuesday, I am committing to blog at least three times a week. Help keep me accountable people! I really do like blogging because I can look back at who I used to be, and see the transformation of my running life, but more importantly the life that God has for me.

So with that let me tell you, that church on Sunday was on the best sermons I have ever heard (I am going to listen to it again soon and will blog about it soon) and then we went home and ran. Oh boy...I should have just stopped at church because our 5 miler was on of the worst runs I have ever been on. I felt like I couldn't catch my breathe the whole time, it was freezing and my Jamaican sprinter and I are still getting used to running with each other. So saying all of that, you know what happened next, I started crying at mile 4. Let me tell you...when it is freezing, you can't catch your breath to start with and now you are crying...recipe for DISASTER!

Are you confused on why I keep saying "our" and "us"? Well let me inform you on what is happening March 27, my Jamaican sprinter (JS) and I are going to Dallas to run the Rock n Roll Half with Katie and Rob. Yes you heard me correct, my Jamaican Sprinter is running his first half! WOOT WOOT! I love it! And let me also tell you....he made this decision on his own!

With all of this said I feel like 2011 is going to be a huge year! The Lord continues to teach me more and more each day and I am in a continual learning stage of learning to walk in His story, not the worlds. I can't wait to see where running takes me and the lessons I learn through that. I am excited for JS to run his first half, for Megs to pound the pavement again, for KB to be reunited at a start line and for new friends to find out how crazy this whole running thing is! I am not sure what this year looks like, but I do know this...God is good and I cant wait to see the story He is writing!

PS...on a completely different note...can someone teach me how to use Google reader? I am obviously not so tech friendly.