Marathon Monday #16

Four weeks to the Finish Line!!  I jogged 16 miles Saturday morning, and I felt good and strong while I was out there!  Due to a bit of hip pain that may have caused me excessive concern, I toned it down and took Thursday and Friday as complete rest days, then Sunday was also rest and recovery, stretching and sitting with the heating pad.  I was sore post-run, but nothing out of the ordinary, and I feel better and ready for some light hills and strength training today.  My feet are getting tougher in a good way, and my mental resilience is growing stronger now too!  I want to use wisdom and avoid pushing myself too hard, but by the end of Friday night, I felt tired of my own excuses and determined and ready to get out there on Saturday morning, and that was good for me to press through my own fear and inner drama... I'm in the home stretch, and it's exciting!!

I'm super grateful for Central Park at The Station in Moore - it's been the perfect training ground for me in so many ways... a lovely lake/pond with ducks and geese and turtles, a 1.27-mile clean and open trail where loads of people come to train or to walk their cute dogs, the ability to stop by my car regularly for water or energy chews as needed, and easy access to a clean bathroom and filtered water at The Station - YAY!!  This = a turtle fam getting some sun this weekend.  They're much braver when they have crowd support.  One turtle by itself would've popped right back into the water when I stopped for a pic, as I know from lots of experience. lol

Once again, I stopped for a bathroom break and changed my socks at mile 9... I think that helps my mind to feel like it's a fresh start and it helps prevent terrible blisters (or so I tell myself), so I'm planning to pack a bag with extra running socks, body glide, etc. for Mom to have ready on Marathon day so I can stop and change into fresh dry socks once or twice. lol

I was out there for around 4 hours - I remembered sunscreen this time, but should have reapplied midway through.  This round, I spent the entire jog listening to an Apple Music playlist of 2000s hits, which was a fun dose of variety and familiar memories!  I had one slow interval set where I walked an extra 3 minutes because my heart felt like it was racing, but outside of that, I was very steady in my walk/jog intervals, so I'm confident that's the winning formula for race day!!

Yay for the redbud (should be purple-bud) trees!  Boo for the wasp duo that I dramatically changed course to avoid! lol

Four weeks from now, I'll have reached this long-anticipated goal, and I'll be recovering and feeling proud and grateful for this journey.  And shifting my focus to new meaningful goals for the road ahead of me.  I still feel confused and disenchanted sometimes, but the lack of purpose I felt for most of my 20s and 30s has vanished.  There is so much I want to do and accomplish, and I'm more concerned that there isn't enough time for all of it (but whatevs, we have eternal life ahead of us - what a gift!!)  Anyway, happy last day of March, friends and fam!!  I'm confident that you're finishing strong in this first quarter of 2025!  (*Friendly reminder that tomorrow is April Fool's Day.)

Marathon Wednesday (Week #15)

*Writing this two days late... I forgot on Monday!

Saturday was a lighter "long run" of 6 miles, which was delightful and allowed me to get some rest and have a fun Tulsa trip on Sunday.  Training is going well, and tomorrow will be 30 days to the Marathon!  At this point, I am already thinking about what my routine will look like when it's over... how to hold on to the best parts of what I've gained through training while letting go of the long runs that take over my weekends!  I'm looking forward to the race and feeling pretty confident and ready for it, while also feeling ready to move into a new season with more balanced and sustainable exercise and eating routines!

Shifting gears -- I got sad and sobering news last night (3/25/25) about a former CHA coach and current headmaster at another Christian school who was arrested for possession of child pornography.  I've been working this week on building a website for my future counseling practice, and that news made me pause and think about the value of personal integrity and excellence... about how God looks at the heart while people focus on the outward appearance, about substance vs. style, growth mindset vs. fixed, Godly wisdom vs. worldly wisdom, and true/earned intelligence vs. artificial intelligence.  We cannot fake our way to greatness, and we have to be careful about how we define and pursue success.

Character matters, especially in Christian leadership.  We would do well to remember that the name of Christ is tied to us, and some people will judge Him based on our behavior.  I'm in the small beginnings phase, but I'm stepping into the Christian leadership arena, and I need to seek and follow God with fierce loyalty, paying attention and cutting out pride and other sins that entangle my heart, and pressing forward with a confidence that is grounded in Christ!

That concludes my deep thoughts for today...

And here's a very random meme that made me laugh!

Hope you're having a great week!
Less than five weeks to the Finish Line... just keep running!!

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Marathon Monday #14!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day, and Happy Marathon Monday!! ❤

Spring is springing, and I'm so enjoying it (minus the intense sunburn on my neck from my 5.5 hours outside yesterday -- I'll remember sunscreen next time)!!  Of all the leaves and blooms and fruit on all the various trees, the Bradford Pear trees always capture my attention.  Something about the extravagance of so many perfect little temporary blooms - both the quantity and the quality of God's work there speaks to me about His creativity and generosity and love of detail, and the idea that there is beauty and value in things that have a short life span.  (Pink flowers would make it extra special... someday, I wanna visit the Cherry Blossom Festival in DC... I thought about all of that during my walk yesterday.) ❤

Anyway, on the Board of Empowerment & Inspiration for today is Linda, Chettles, and Rachael LaJo.  Linda is my friend from yesteryear in Lindsay's Lifegroup... she's been living in Colorado for several years now and she lives a really active, vibrant life including lots of hiking and 5k/10k/trail races!  Chet Lee recently signed up for the Disney Marathon this coming January... 26.2 in 2026!  He has a plan in place to train hard for that after completing the Tulsa Tough bike race this summer - go Chet!!  We're gonna plan our family Disney/Universal trip for that same week, so I'm super excited to cheer him on at the Finish Line!  And Rach is feeling verrry ready for a job transition... she's been working hard and has already taken a full book of handwritten notes in her medical coding classes - I'm guessing she'll finish the online classes and be certified by the end of April! (PS the nutcracker pic still makes me laugh!)

Y'all know I love the number 7, and yesterday was a series of 7s for me.  I did 6:1 intervals (jog six minutes, walk one) for 20 miles then one cool-down mile.  I did 3 sets of 7 miles on my RunInterval app (highly recommend).  I took a bathroom break at mile 7, then I fully changed clothes + socks and shoes at mile 14 - I think it helped my feet stay less blistered, so yay for that!!  I listened to podcasts, music, and the last 2 hours of my audiobook.  I focused on "strong and healthy" as my mantra - listing as many things as I could think of (strong and healthy mind, strong and healthy body, strong and healthy soul, strong and healthy spirit, strong and healthy decisions, strong and healthy connections, strong and healthy sphere of influence, etc. Then I went through a body scan with that mantra too.)  All of the above helped keep me going and keep my brain focused on good things!

My pink Brooks Hyperion shoes are likely what will carry me across the finish line next month.  Although I'm pondering changing shoes halfway through like I did yesterday.   It's a distinct possibility.  Also, the turtle family (above) congregating on the fake alligator head at The Station always brings me joy!

I'm in the final stretch, so I revamped my original training plan a bit!  I felt pretty great yesterday, and I'm planning to stick with the Galloway 6:1 intervals for the actual marathon, but continue to build speed and strength and endurance in the meantime!  (The Thursday runs are being exchanged for my Wednesday walking miles with Kristin, and I'm being super flexible on the dates all around, so long as I get all the workouts in at some point.)

Start line & finish line pics - (I changed into fresh clothes at mile 14).  Completing 21 consecutive miles is huge for me, and these endurance runs are reeeally boosting my confidence and resilience in an emotionally draining season!  Also boosting my sense of joy and hope is the arrival of Spring and the physical reality of seasons changing from dark and dreary and cold and dormant to brighter and more colorful and warm and full of life.  I just feel like I am craving spring and new growth in all aspects of my life, and it's hopeful to see the first hints of it popping up!! ❤

Another before and after pic.. my bag of extra clothes and shoes and body glide for my feet + bottled waters, Cliff Bloks black cherry energy chews, and a banana for during the run (yum - it all worked well)... then a protein shake with spinach, banana, and berries when I got home - yay!!

40 days to the race, and 7 more Marathon Monday posts to go!!

❤ ❤ ❤

Marathon Monday #13

Happy Marathon Monday!  I'm keeping this one short because I honestly forgot about it until now, and I'm trying to go to bed earlier this week.  

I did six miles after work today, and it was good.  I missed my long run this past weekend, but I'm supposed to do 20 miles this coming weekend, so I'm going to focus on that and maybe break up the miles I missed into several short runs.  Whatever.  Overall, I'm doing pretty well with training and feeling back on track mentally.  I'm doing my best to get out of my head about feeling like what I'm doing is not enough or feeling pressured to be faster.  

Training for long races is such a mental game - you have to win it there first - and that applies to so many things in life.  Regular time outside walking and jogging is challenging me to control what I focus on.  I can focus on feeling awash in rejection/confusion or focus on God being a God of abundance and trust that He has good things in store for me.  Temporary truth vs. eternal truth - it's a daily, moment-by-moment choice of mindset, and what we focus on will grow! #BOLD

So I'm reminding myself right here tonight that God's grace is enough for today's needs, and He is worthy of my absolute trust.  And tomorrow, His grace will be enough for tomorrow's needs.  And He will be worthy of our absolute trust.  Right now, I need to be intentional about pursuing peace, and I need to rest and sleep, so that's the plan. =)  Be kind to yourself, and lean into the grace of God for whatever you need today!  His mercy is new every morning, and He knows what is best for us individually, and He patiently guides us along that path. ❤

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Marathon Monday #12

Happy Monday, dear blog readers!  This sunset view toward the end of my 7 miles on Saturday made me happy. ❤

People who inspire me this week = Eddie Kaufholz, my pandemic bestie who podcasted his journey of training for his first Half Marathon in 2020 (something I've listened to a minimum of 5x)... Leanne Hainsby, the delightfully cheery and sincere London Peloton coach and breast cancer survivor... and Kyndal Faith, my one and only niece whose passion and perseverance are growing this year!!

To be vaguely honest, it's been a rough week.  In a fitting addition to the consistent political turmoil and signs of distress all over my FB feed, my internal soundtrack lately has featured sugar cravings, old insecurities, career pressure, dating confusion, and feeling a general unease and lack of acceptance.

Funnn as that has been, I'm ready to turn the page and move forward.  I'm leaning hard into God's grace for today, resting in Him and quieting the internal and external distractions (starting with deactivating FB and Instagram 3 days early for the season of Lent 2025).

I am accepted and loved by God, and I am doing my best to love and accept myself just as I am today, letting go of what lies behind and pressing forward in power, love, and a sound mind.

God has better things ahead for all of us, friends and fam!!

❤❤❤

Double Brunch Weekend

Well, it was a lovely weekend featuring a Friday night walk with Kristin, two delicious brunches, a 7-mile jog at The Station, and a 5-mile walk in Tulsa!  

Brunch #1 was at The Main Street Diner in Norman with Marla on Saturday... her last day at the courthouse was Friday, and we caught up on all she learned in her training week at CREOKS and all I've learned through various job searches, interviews, and networking conversations.  (To sum it up, Tulsa pays counseling candidates significantly more than OKC, and Tulsa supervisors charge significantly less, and neither of us fully understand why.) Anyway, I'm grateful for the Cleveland County connection with her, and I wish her all the best as she moves forward with her new school counselor and play therapist career!!

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Brunch #2 was a belated 'birthday brunch' with the Wilsons and Fultons at Red Rock in Tulsa today... topics included online dating, job searching, challenging interviews, vaccinations, weight loss methods, body image issues, politics, family dramas, past traumas, panic attacks, parenting stressors, church mistrust, and more!  Cue the cheerful birthday music, please. lol  ...But I always appreciate deep conversations with trusted friends, and our brunch food was excellent, as per usual!!

My quiche + fruit = yum!

Group pic of our table!

Walking + listening to HP book 4... JK is truly brilliant, and I will never get over it!

Gifts Rach made for K-Faith and her Club Team!! ❤

Current screensaver at work. =)

This meme reminder came at a good time for me.  God does nothing without purpose... I so wanted this finding-my-first-counseling-job part of my story to be smooth and easy, but it's okay that it looks different than I planned.  Like so many things in life, I need to avoid personalizing it and/or believing that it means something negative about me and/or my value as a counselor.  God is at work in ways I cannot yet see.  I am not alone, ever.  The best is yet to come.  And everything happening in this waiting season matters.

God is with me and for me, empowering me with the passion and perseverance to keep moving forward with hope and purpose.

That's all for today.

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Marathon Monday #11

"Self pity is poison, but movement is medicine!" 

~Robin Arzon, Peloton ❤

"You are better equipped to deal with stress when you are moving.  When you feel tense or frustrated or worried, it is difficult to think your way into feeling better.  The more you think about the situation, the larger it becomes in your mind.  Trying to think your way out of it often leads to a spiral of overthinking and rumination.  The first step is not to think something different, but to DO something different.  It doesn’t matter what.  Stretch on the floor, go for a walk, work on a project.  Get out of your mind and move your body."

~James Clear

YES to that advice!!

Kate, Kirsten, and Becs are three women who inspire me today!!  Kate is a real-life friend who is fighting MS this year and has been busy fully reshaping her diet and lifestyle to be as healthy as possible for as long as possible - her attitude is faith-filled, determined, and inspiring!  Kirsten Ferguson is a feisty Peloton NYC coach who shines the light of Christ in her classes, and she ran her first Full Marathon last year!  Becs Gentry is a London Peloton Coach and a frequent marathon runner - love her spirit and love her 60-minute NYC Marathon simulation class (complete with music and her sharing race memories from all 5 boroughs).  I love it!

Happy Marathon Monday - starting week 11, officially in the second half of this training season!  I'm going to start throwing in 3 people who inspire me on Mondays - fun!  Here's to the power of movement and physical exercise to help us move forward in all of life with more mental clarity and emotional stability!! ❤

"I want to face the day as the version of myself who takes over by the time I'm done with my workout: braver, more optimistic, and ready to face whatever challenges await me!  Movement brings out the best in us by making us happy... the happiness that comes from having a sense of purpose and belonging, the happiness of feeling connected to something bigger than yourself, the happiness that is best described as hope...  If you're looking for a guideline, it's this: MOVE! Any kind, any amount, in any way that makes you happy.  Move whatever parts of your body still move, with gratitude.  Move by yourself and in community.  Move in your home.  Move outdoors.  Move to music or in silence.  Set goals that are personally meaningful.  Take baby steps, then conquer a big stretch.  Seek out new experiences and explore new identities.  Pay attention to how activities make you feel and how they change you.  Listen to your body; give yourself permission to do what feels good.  Revel in metaphor and meaning.  Look for places, people, and communities that inspire you and make you feel welcomed.  Keep following the thread of joy as long as you can!" ❤
~Kelly McGonigal, The Joy of Movement

Weekend Update

It's been a good weekend... here's a quick recap.  Yesterday was a Tulsa trip for the Mini Miss K's volleyball tournament (The Kaizen Invitational at the Cox Business Center downtown).  Dad and I drove separately and met Rach and Kyndal there (they stayed Friday to Sunday).  

High fives with the club coaches and parents! =)

She aced 7 jump-serves in a row in two of the afternoon games I watched - go Kyndal Faith!!

Without getting into all the details, they shifted some things around and changed up her position, which was a big disappointment initially... but she's showing a lot of resilience and heart and determination, and I'm super proud of her for that!!

LOVE her and always enjoy cheering for her team! ❤

Grandpa and Kyndal + the awesome hair ribbons Rach made for the team!

Front and center in the Tulsa sign pic after winning two games in a row!

Just Jace being Jace and making himself a snow beard on one of the below-freezing days last week! lol

YAY for my new diploma frame - get excited! =)

Parker E. hid to be funny when she saw that I was taking a pic... then I said, "Oh, Tate's smiling back there..." and she popped right up to do what Tate was doing! lol #siblingrivalry #alwaysfunnytome

After the volleyball tournament, I had a 2.5-hour tea time chat with Kristin Renee at Parea Coffee... then we met the Wilsons and the rest of the Foster fam for an early dinner at the Broken Arrow Chick-Fil-A!!

The kids table was the cutest and reminded me of me, Rach, Clint, and Ty back in the day!!

My fav quote from our convo:

Me (explaining my 75-Soft plan):  "Yeah, I'm throwing myself into online dating in this season.  Sooo the men of the world have 75 days, and then..." (I was pausing trying to think how to phrase adoption/embryo adoption/focusing on motherhood)

Chettles:  "Nunnery!!" lolol

I randomly thought about that and laughed out loud a couple times today!!

Group pic before we left - love this group!!  And yay for a kind CFA worker offering to take the pic!

I walked 12 miles tonight... both before and after, my feet are in rough shape, and I just didn't feel up to running, but I'm proud that I got the miles in anyway!  I listened to Harry Potter book 3 (and laughed and cried along the way - gracious, those books bring out all the emotions for me - so freaking good).  I enjoyed the sunshine -- it was t-shirt weather for 90% of the walk, but the top layer of the lake was still mostly frozen and the geese were just standing on the ice. lol  In other news, check out my cute new Sketchers shoes!!  Fun!

Mmkay that's all for today.

Hope you've had a lovely weekend and hope it's a great week ahead for you!

❤ ❤ ❤

Marathon Monday #10

Happy Marathon Monday, friends!  On Saturday, I got up at 7am to do a 14-mile run (you can always know I mean that as walk/slow jog) in the best weather that day had to offer.  It's about as proud of myself as I've ever felt, if I'm being honest... 

It had been a rough week for me - mind, body, soul, and spirit.  I was not feeling energetic or powerful or in the mood for a good run.  It was early and sleep sounded good.  14 miles felt intimidating - (13.1 is the longest I've done prior to that, and that's only been on official race days).  It was super foggy and dreary outside.  It was cold, and it rained a bit.  And by the end, I had 3 blisters on my right foot and two on my left (something that seems inevitable for me during longer runs).  BUT I pushed through, and I freaking did it!!!

I got a second wind in that final mile, and it made me feel more confident that I can really do the Full!  ...That I can push through any negativity and drama and find the grit and inner strength to keep moving forward, even when things feel hazy and unclear. #metaphorforlife #onestepatatime

It was just me and Jesus out there (and one or two other joggers or people walking dogs), so this was a faith-building jog, as well.  I listened to 3 Christian podcasts, finished a John Eldredge audiobook, then listened to worship songs for the last 3 miles... kudos to Peloton's Kirsten Ferguson for introducing me to this gem (HERE) - it got me smiling and jogging with victory hands during that final mile for sure! =)

❤

This is a very random spot for this, but I wanted to mention that my cousin Emily had her baby girl, Karsten Blaire, on January 29th!  Asher Kenneth has a precious little sister now - yay! ❤

I came home and took a hot bath, then felt as close to fainting as I've ever felt when I got out... yikes... that's the only time I've had critically low blood sugar on the CGM (after a long run + hot bath a few weekends back) so I'm guessing it was that again.  I will be more careful in how I time those moving forward.

That afternoon was Anthony's 13th birthday balloon release... the weather had gotten worse, and it was crazy cold outside, so we didn't stay quite as long as usual.

I'm grateful for Anthony's life and for the hope we have knowing he is in Heaven!

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Me and Kristin ❤

That night, Kate came by to see us!  We had a girls dinner at Santa Fe, followed by a snowy drive home.  It was really good to catch up with her - she was recently diagnosed with MS after a verrry challenging two years of misdiagnoses and medical issues, and she has handled that news with a lot of grace and faith, another solid example of grieving with hope.

On a lighter note, Mom and I had a delightful Cheesecake Factory brunch yesterday, and seeing this on the car parked in front of me made me happy - a fun farmer, as Rach put it.  Aww, memories of Rachael's burned CD collection. lol 

Living room Birthday Eve pic, 2024 and 2025.  I'm so grateful for progress.  And I'm grateful for the reminders this week that it is normal and valid and okay to grieve over hard things and loss while holding onto the vivid hope we have in Christ that truly anchors our soul for anything this life throws at us.  ❤

And to be very clear, I haven't lost anything new or tangible.  I am just feeling the ambiguous grief more deeply lately - I'm sure the birthday and the awareness of aging plays into that a bit - the growing sense that my life will never be what I wanted it to be here on earth.  (Which, on some level, is true for all of us.  Every good thing we experience here is partial and incomplete, and comparison is the thief of joy, and I understand all of that, and I'm allowed to feel things.)  I would love to feel seen and chosen by a really good and Godly man - thus far, I am striking out hard there.  I feel pity from some and judgment from others, but rarely sincere compassion or understanding for the level of loneliness and third-wheeling and unwanted-ness I've had to navigate as a single adult.  Parts of my story have been beautiful, but the rejection I've faced has been difficult, and the messages have been poisonous, and I'm sad that my 20s and 30s did not hold family building or being loved/seen/known/chosen in the way my heart really desired.  Maybe God still has that for me - maybe - but that shimmering hope feels as fragile as a soap bubble.  I would love to be a mother and build a family of my own and pass on some of what I've learned to my child or children - I find myself wondering more and more if I need to pass that on through books and teaching and fully surrender the motherhood dream.  I don't know (and I'm not exactly asking for opinions).  I need wisdom and guidance from God, and I probably need to fast and pray for that as I begin this new year of life.  I am doing my best to lean into God's goodness and mercy, to believe His promise that He has good plans to prosper me - that what the enemy intended for my destruction, God wants to use for good and for His glory.  I want to walk in His power and love and a clear, sound mind and not allow fear to hold me back - it's a theme I keep coming back to.  But I have felt discouraged and uncertain about the life and career path ahead of me right now - I know it hasn't been that long in the grand scheme of things, but in some areas, it has, and being in limbo about what lies ahead for me is very hard on my mind and soul (and makes it challenging not to feel apathetic/indifferent about every goal I've set), so I need God to strengthen my spirit and give me endurance and grace and wisdom for the road He sees clearly ahead of me where I only see the thick fog!!

Having said all that, the 14-mile jog this weekend felt like such a metaphor for all that I'm wrestling with internally.  It was hella foggy when I got out there that morning, and much brighter and clearer by the time I left.  I was feeling weak and tired in the beginning, and strong and proud in the end!  (And physically exhausted.)  It was cold outside the entire time, but I felt better as I warmed up internally.  I spent 14 miles feeding my soul encouragement and truth - and my mind, body, soul, and spirit felt better for it!  It was a strong reminder for me to be more intentional about what I am putting into my mind, body, soul, and spirit... to encourage myself in the Lord and to focus on what I want to see growing in my life.  "So even when it gets tough, I'm gonna keep my head up 'cause I feel like God has shined a light on me!"

And that concludes my halftime pep talk. ;-)

Ten weeks of marathon training down; ten weeks to go.

God is with me and for me.

I can do hard things.

BRING IT!

❤ ❤ ❤