Stand up straight, just like her.

The last few days I have been having fun training. Okay let me restate that...I have been having fun getting to know my new and HARD training plan. The whole running part...uhmmmm I am not sure I would call feeling like I am going to fall off the back of the treadmill at all times fun. :) I will keep you all updated on how everything is going. This week so far as been distance, hills and strides (sprints). Yes, fun indeed.

So tomorrow is the day the whole world has been waiting for. Will you be watching? Will you be watching Kate and William get hitched? For some reason I don't think that is what the queen calls it. Anyway, according to my trusting TV guide, coverage starts tomorrow at 1am. Will you be up watching it? Will you DVR it? Do you even care?

All the aunts talk about when Princess Di and Prince Charles got married. They remember where they were and who they watched it with. I remember, just like many of you, where I was and who I was with when Princess Di died. Will tomorrow's event be one of those events, an event that we remember for the rest of our lives?

Does the royal wedding even matter to most of us? Oh probably not. But the royal family does hold a special place in my heart. They help me remember special, important memories of when I was younger. You see, when I was younger I was horribly tall for my age. Okay, okay I am horribly tall now for my age, but back then no one was as tall as I was. I HATED it. I towered over my friends, boys and even teachers. I would cry night after night about what made me different then everyone else. And every time, EVERY TIME, my mom would look me dead in the eye and with a smile on her face say, "stand up straight and tall, just like Princess Di, you know she is your height, and look how beautiful she is when she stands up straight." So I would stand up a little straighter with a little more confidence because I knew a princess was a little bit, just like me.

So tomorrow, will I be watching? Yes. Coincidentally it would have also been my mom's 51st birthday. I think she probably has the best seat in the house. And yes, I will be standing a bit taller and straighter tomorrow.

Dear body,

To my dearest body,

Are you ready? Are you ready for 12 weeks for planned torture? Are you ready for 6am wake up calls to run, strength train and run some more? Well you better be. I know I have put you through A LOT these last couple years.

You never thought you would run more then 3 miles at a time. And then I told you we were running the Tacoma Half Marathon. You hated me on that day. I made you go up hill after hill after hill. But after we crossed the finish line, I think you finally understood why I wanted to do this in the first place.

What I don't think you were ready for was the 6 more half marathons, 1 full marathon, 3 triathlons and countless 5k and 10k's that followed. What I know you REALLY weren't ready for was the countless hours of training. But every race you showed up, some more awake and alive then others. Some days legs would scream at me, other days lungs just couldn't get enough air. But then there were days when we would both agree to pound it out and we worked in perfect harmony. Miles would fly by without really even noticing.

And then of course, how could I forget the pain we have both been through the last couple months? We have experienced some pretty scary moments in the hospital, outside of the hospital and everywhere in between. But again, you didn't give up on me. You healed yourself (with the help of medicine and some doctors of course) and are ready to run hard yet again. I think.

At least I hope you are. Please body, tell me your ready. Don't get scared, I promise I will feed you well and you know I don't have a problem with rest days. But please body stay with me until July 17. We are going to do big things that day, Lord willing. And then I promise I will go light on training for the Disney Half. That race will be fun. We get to run with Megaruu and her body. They are pretty awesome you know?

Body are you ready? Well ready or not....HERE WE GO!!!!

Love you lots,

Your mind.

What are you doing tomorrow?

If you aren't up to much we would love to invite you to church....

Take a look and if you are interested in the story that God is writing let me know and we can go together.

I love you guys...but more importantly God loves you so much, that He will rise tomorrow! OH MAN!! I AM SOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!!

When will you need it?

I started looking at my running schedule the other day. The one that starts this weekend with 8 miles. Yes, you read that right...STARTS with 8 miles. Oh boy this is going to be a long 12 weeks. But I am determined to be sub two hours in July. I am revamping eating, I am trying to get down to a good racing weight, I am going to start running again in the morning instead of after work to get my legs ready to run fast in the morning. I am going to do tempo runs, speed workouts and specific hill training. I have never done this specific of a training cycle before, but I am excited. Everything is in my planner, I am reading more and more about nutrition and I am ready to go. I know that I will need all of this training on July 17. I know that I could run an okay race if I just went out an ran 3-4 times a week. But I know what that mediocrity feels like. And well I am just not going to feel mediocre this time around.

I sometimes I wish I knew when I needed Jesus, like how I know when I need to train extra hard. I know I need Jesus everyday, literally everyday. But there are some days when I cling to him with a death defying grip. And there are times that I wish I knew what was coming and when; when I will need Jesus more then I have ever thought. Someone once told me, "your life might be great now, but don't worry, one day it will all come crashing down and the one rock you will have to stand on is Christ. Are you ready?" WOW! Those are tough words to hear. God never promised for everything to be flowers and sunshine. There are going to be hard days, days when know one else is around, but God. This is also hard to hear.

On this week, the week that includes Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter, can you say you are ready? Ready for the days that are going to be amazing, where you can celebrate with Jesus but also the days that are going to be filled with tears and you can fall into the arms of Christ? Eternity is at stake, which can be scary to hear. But nothing is more scary then thinking about eternity away from God.

I know this is some serious stuff we are talking about the last couple of posts. There hasn't been a lot of talk about how my butt jiggles when I run (still does) or how my love handles are doing (GREAT thanks!) or how I was rocking out to Beyonce yesterday (you know I was!). But this week, should make everyone stop and think about the tough questions. Are you ready for hard times, because whether we like it or not they are coming. Do you know Jesus? I mean really KNOW Jesus? If you don't and you would like to, I would love to talk with you more about it. shelbgb04 (at) yahoo (dot) com

Love you guys!

Holy Week

Yesterday was the start of holy week. I have never thought much about Palm Sunday, but this year, it hit me like a ton of bricks. The following was something I read about Palm Sunday, it shook me to my core and help me feel, even more, the importance of this week. Enjoy!

"There is something wrong with our picture of Palm Sunday. The jubilant crowds, their cloaks laid across a roadway strewn in palm fronds, shouts for joy as Christ rides into Jerusalem. It's a bright moment, but perhaps it's too bright; it's colorful, but maybe too colorful. The smiles are too wide, the emotion too saccharine. This is not to say that the welcome is ingenuine, but that its intensity belies a collective ignorance as to what Christ's entry into Jerusalem truly means.

We shout for jot to welcome the coming of our King because we believe that His arrival will spell the end of our woes, and we each have a specific agenda for His reign. Every cloak and palm frond laid in the road-every shout of Hosanna!- stands as testimony to these personal desires. We want Christ to fix our world, our broken lives and broken families, to right all that we deem to be wrong. But, however intensely of the coming Kingdom. The kind that we want is vastly overshadowed by the King we truly need.

We welcome Christ at the gates of Jerusalem because we foolishly believe this is be the end of the journey, that having arrived, Christ will begin to set things right. However, the Palm Sunday road does not end at the gates of Jerusalem. Rather, it ends at a spot just outside of the city walls, at a place called Golgotha, and it will ultimately require that we lay down something far more dear than our cloaks."

I welcome all of your thoughts on this passage and the holy week! Do you consider yourself a part of God's story? What does the Holy week/Good Friday/Easter mean to you?

I love ya, but Jesus loves ya more!

PS....the official "break two hours at See Jane Run Half kick your butt and feel like you might die" training plan starts this weekend with 8 miles. Yea you read that right. Training STARTS with 8 miles. OH MY GOODNESS!

And the winner is.....

.....

MEGAN KNIGHT!*

Megan Knight said...
aaron in blogland! way to go! can't wait for your home and sleepovers with the knights & lantings!

Congrats Meg! I will be bringing you your gift very soon!

Thanks everyone for entering and showing my Jamacian Sprinter some love! There should be some new exciting posts on his blog very very soon!

*Winner was picked using random.org

OH SNAP!

Oh snap!!! My Jamaican Sprinter started a little blog! I LOVE IT!!! It is about our "home buying process". I am not sure why I put that in quotes, but it just feels so weird to continue to say that.

So here is the deal....IT'S GIVEAWAY TIME! Here is how you enter:

1. You need to be a follower of my blog, first.

2. Go over to his blog give him some love and leave a comment that you came from my blog.

Contest ends Saturday night! One winner will be picked and announced Saturday night/Sunday morning.

What do you win???

1. One of my favorite Comendium books. Check them out! They are fabulous!

2. And of course a STARBS card!!!

PS....still running three times a week just to make sure my legs don't forget how. Official "break 2 hours in the See Jane Run Half" training starts in a couple weeks! Oh it is going to be good....it is going to hurt....and I am going to LOVE IT!

Almost forgot....

...I went to the lung specialist yesterday. He said I am the quickest case of PE, that has recovered and run a half marathon, that he has ever seen. I have always been an overachiever. :)

Where have I been?

Who knows?! After getting back from Dallas we have been trying to get into the swing of things again. We sure do miss 85 degree days. Currently I am looking out at the rain and wind. Awesome. Come on spring!!! Get here already! On a positive note, everything is nice and green. :) I learned so much from the last half marathon and everything that preceded it. I feel so blessed to have learned the lessons and have a better appreciation for my body and health. I have a new, pretty intense half marathon training plan for the See Jane Run half marathon I am doing in July. It looks overwhelming and hard, but gosh darnit I want to break two hours!!! I have been trying some of the workouts (because I don't technically start training for a couple more weeks) and they have been going great! They are different, but feeling good. Have you ever felt completely overwhelmed by something? Have you looked at a challenge and thought....wow boy, this is going to be hard. AA and I are trying to make some pretty hard decisions these days and we are constantly praying for God's direction. But man oh man do the decisions and situations continue to build and the overwhelming, panicking, I'M DROWNING feeling keeps setting it. Of course not for AA, just for the over emotional me. I have been so overwhelmed lately that I don't event know what to pray. But then I remember a great sermon I heard about being overwhelmed and when you don't know what to pray, just pray "Jesus." He hears you, he knows exactly what you are thinking and needing. It is a recognition that you know He is in control and that He is the driver of your life. So with that reminder.... Jesus!