Explore how amazing you are!!

I was feeling a little down the other day & decided to write a list of things I had done in my lifetime. I tend to think I haven’t done anything yet or that what I’m doing is just tiny. I must say it made me feel better to think about it and to write it down.

Things I’ve done (in no particular order):
1. Lived in a tent for a summer at a camp ground while teaching Bible Camp & doing beach maintenance. Also, won the lumberjack contest on the Civic Holiday weekend.
2. Spent a summer with www.teenmissions.org in Scotland & England. While in Scotland taught vacation Bible school. Also lived on a canal boat travelling through England doing puppet shows and singing wherever there was an audience.
3. Spent a summer with www.teenmissions.org at an orphanage in Israel building retaining walls & gardening.
4. Survived boot camp in the jungle in Florida for the above 2 mission projects with Teen Missions.
5. Spent 2 weeks on Germany preaching in the streets.
6. Went to Bible College. Preached from the pulpit at several churches, laid hands on sick people.
7. Encourage others (I am usually the spiritual go to girl)
8. Graduated grade 13. In Canada we used to have 5 years of high school.
9. Owned & drove a motorcycle. It’s on the top ten list of fun.
10. Climbed up 10 water falls in the Dominican Republic. Slid down the water falls and jumped the last one that was 20 feet high. On the top ten list of fun.
11. Drove a transport truck. (didn’t get my license, don’t care, I had the guts to try)
12. Studied to be an Executive Administrative Assistant (can’t type worth crap graduated as a receptionist)
13. Worked as an Executive Administrative Assistant to the president and credit manager at the head office of a nationwide company.
14. Bold enough to leave 2 common law marriages, 2 marriages and at least one job when they weren’t beneficial to me & I couldn’t change them for the better.
15. Manage a 2.5 million dollar property virtually by myself. I am the responsible party 24/7/365 period. Hire contractors, collect rent, rent apts, fix things, garden, etc etc etc, pick up dog poop
16. Care for the seniors at this property (get discounts on utilities, eyeglasses, hearing aids. Help them find the food bank for the day. Give them food and money for laundry. Pray with them. Help them get to the hospital when they are too mentally ill to live well with others.)
17. I used to walk with a cane. I was in pain from my neck down to my ankles. When the medical system couldn’t help me, I immersed myself in chiropractic, massage therapy & naturopathic therapy to heal myself. Since then I have :
a. Completed a marathon.
b. Completed a couple of duathlons and a couple of sprint triathlons.
c. Done a slew of half marathons, most of them in crazy locations in the middle of the night.
d. Completed a mud run.

I encourage you to write down what you have done in your lifetime, it might just surprise you & encourage you.

0 to 10k

A couple of weeks ago when I was at the NLP seminar someone asked me what I had passion for.

The first two things I put on the list were I love running in the mountains & I love walking in the desert. I know within those two phrases there are really paragraphs of information.

I love trail running in California. I love walking in the desert, my favorite race is along highway 375 near area 51 at midnight under a full moon. You will note that I did not say I like walking on asphalt in California. And yet I told my girlfriend I would be doing the full marathon at Avenue of the Giants this year. Last year Avenue of the Giants half marathon was one of those races when I was constantly wondering why I was out there and I told myself I was either going to do the 10k to win or the full marathon next year. Obviously I was looking for a bigger challenge.

My marathon training isn't going that well as it consists of walking two miles, buying something to eat, walking two miles buying something else to eat etc. I'm getting the miles in but not in a race friendly way. I don't think there is ice cream, potato salad & breakfast burritos on the race course.

How much would it knock my socks off to win a race? That's a good question. I've never really thought about winning before. I usually come pretty close to last or somewhere in the tail end. But it got me excited to think about winning and I tore out the door running two days in a row as far and as fast as I could go. Damn my shins hurt and I need to be aware of that IT band thing or I'm going to be sidelined again.
Time to regroup. Two sports bras feels better than just one (weird but it works). New Saucony's in blow your mind neon (OMG they just look fast).


How far to run, how often to run, how fast to run?? Who knows these things, I don't. Can I win the 10K at Avenue? – they are pretty darn fast there and it is two months away. I don't really know. Can I win a 10k somewhere this season,? YES I CAN.