Life verse

This is my new "life verse". It may change at some point, but right now the concept of the Christian life being like running a race really resonates with me.

Hebrew 12:1-3
¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 
² Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Several parts of this passage encourage me and challenge me.

First, the part about throwing off everything that hinders. Who wants to run a race with excess baggage? Sin will tie me down, hold me back, and keep me from doing my best. I have to get rid of any sin that tries to entangle me. I have to purge everything that keeps me from living a life fully dedicated to God. Yes, it will involve a few sacrifices. But you don't train for a race without sacrificing something. Since I've been running, I've sacrificed sleep, free time, thoughts, and money for the sake of the sport. Shouldn't I be willing to sacrifice a lot more to follow God?

I sometimes fall into the trap of thinking that the Christian life is easy and comfortable. Seeing Christianity as a race makes that thought process impossible. I've NEVER been comfortable in a race. It's always hard, some days more than others. There are times I want to cry or throw up. There are times I want to fall down in desperation because I feel like I can't go on. There are times I feel so weary and slow that I don't know how I ever call myself a runner. But there are so many good moments too! When I run through quiet neighborhoods early in the morning, I feel God's peace. When I get a rush of adrenaline, I feel like I can conquer the world. When I want to give up but don't, I find an inner strength within myself that is so wonderfully encouraging, I want to shout about it from the rooftops. In those moments I find grace and joy and beauty and courage. Running is always an adventure.

The next part goes along with getting rid of sin - fixing my eyes on Jesus. Ever heard that saying "eyes on the prize"? There is a prize far more glorious than anything I could get on earth. Jesus offers me the crown of life, which is far better than any medal I could ever win. As long as I'm focused on Him, I'm good. As soon as I let anything else become a distraction, I'm in trouble.

Lastly, I love the part about not growing weary or losing heart. I tend to grow weary a lot. Things that seem exciting and adventurous at first eventually lose their appeal. My life becomes monotonous and routine. I hate it when that happens. I think the key to not growing weary is to remember my motivation. I have to look to Jesus for strength, comfort, and courage. He knows and understands when I suffer; he suffered worse. But now he sits at the right hand of the throne of God, and he promises that those who suffer with him will also reign with him. When I grow weary, I need to remember the joy set before me.

Kinetic Half Marathon: Part 2

Read part 1 here. After waiting around at Lake Anna since 6:30am that morning, I was finally running. Austin and Meike both rocked it on the swimming and biking, so I couldn't let them down!

It was exciting to finally be running after all that time waiting. But it was also 11:30am by the time I started my run, and it was hot. I had to do three loops of the same course, which was different for me. It was also different from other races because I didn't start out in a huge crowd of people. The racers were pretty spread out on the course by the time I started running. Some people were 2 laps ahead of me and some people were still on the bike course. It was weird to have so much room to run! I'm used to weaving in and out of people the whole time, but in this race I never had to do that.

Lap 1: I started out with a moderate pace. The first part of every lap started with a big hill, which was okay the first time, hard the second time, and really slowed me down the third time. I tried to be smart about pacing myself and not start out too fast, and I think I succeeded. For the first lap, I was getting used to the course and trying to find a good pace. I settled into a 9:30 pace, which was kind of slow, but it was what I felt I could sustain with the heat and hills.

At first, I employed my usual race routine of stopping at EVERY water station to get water or Gatorade. I soon realized that strategy wasn't going to be feasible on this course. There were just too many water stops. A normal race course has water about every two miles. On this course, with all the loops and out & backs, there were 1-2 water stops every mile. Initially I kept grabbing water at every station, despite the large amount I'd consumed before the start of the run. Then I started to realize that I felt kind of bloated and that drinking so much water probably wasn't a good idea.

I started running through some of the water stations, but it was kind of too late- I'd already drunk too many liquids. I could literally hear water sloshing around in my stomach and I started to get cramps in my side. However, I've learned that there are many different things that can go wrong during a long race, and you just have to run through them. Luckily the cramps never got too unbearable and I was able to keep running.

Lap 2: The end of each lap was all downhill. As I finished the first lap, I could see the beach where Austin had started swimming about 4 hours ago. I spotted Austin with the other spectators, but I missed my mom and Meike the first time around. Knowing that they were all there to cheer me on gave me motivation to go a little faster through that section, though.

The runners had thinned out even more by my second lap. There were some places where I would be running all by myself, without another runner in sight. Then I'd round a corner and I'd see people again, but it was weird to run so much of it alone. Definitely different compared to other races I've run. It was basically how I imagined races would be before I'd ever done one.

At mile 8, I took a gel for energy and it was the best-tasting gel I've tried yet. It was a Hammer Gel: Montana Huckleberry. I usually stick with vanilla, but I'll have to try more fruity flavors because I actually liked that one. I drank some water with the gel because you're supposed to, but I got the cramps and sloshing-water feeling again, ugh. So frustrating. But then I came to the downhill part and the beach and I was 2/3 of the way done!

Lap 3: This time when I ran through the spectator section, I saw my mom. That brought a smile to my face even though I was getting tired by this point. On the third lap, I had to walk up the two tough hills. It was hot and I was tired. There's a point where running uphill isn't that much faster than walking, but it takes way more energy. When you reach that point, it's smarter to just walk up the hill and save that energy for the rest of the race. So that's what I did.

I pretty much figured I wasn't going to reach my goal of finishing in under 2 hours, but I was okay with that on such a hilly course. I still wanted to finish as close to 2 hours as I could, though. I was ready for the race to be over as quickly as possible! I passed some people who were only on their first lap and I felt bad for them. As I passed mile markers 2 and 6, I was so glad those numbers didn't apply to me anymore. I was so glad to be on mile 9 instead!

Lap 3 was definitely the hardest. I knew the course by now and I knew which parts to dread. There were a couple sections with no shade and direct sunlight. There were a couple of bad hills. But I also knew about that nice shady downhill finish on a path through the woods. When I started down that last stretch, I knew this was it. I picked up a lot of speed going down that hill, so by the time I got to the boardwalk, I was sprinting. My mom said she was surprised how fast I was at the end! I just let my legs go. Once I rounded the final corner, I was pushing myself as fast as I could go.

Once I saw the finish line there was no stopping me! I couldn't wait to be done!

All in all, it was a great experience. I can't say I liked running from 11:30am to 1:30pm, but I learned I can run in hot weather and I'm not going to die of heat exhaustion (and definitely not from dehydration, lol). There were some things I did wrong to prepare for this race (like running 6 miles two days beforehand), but everything is a learning experience that I can use to benefit me at my next race. I'm going to make some mistakes before I find out what works for me and what doesn't. That's okay. And even though I wanted this half marathon to be faster than my first half, I'm okay with my time. I don't have to PR on every race and I don't want to be disappointed in myself if I run a little slower than what I wanted. Just getting out there and running is enough.

Austin's swim time: 37:05
Transition one: 1:30
Meike's bike time: 3:08:59
Transition two: 0:36
My half marathon time: 2:05:23
Total time: 5:53:31

Kinetic Half Marathon: Part 1

I'm finally getting around to blogging about the half marathon that I ran over a week ago! The Kinetic race was actually a half ironman, but I entered the race as part of a relay team, so I only did the running part. It was different from other races I've done because there were a lot less racers. It turns out when it come to long distance triathlons, there's only a limited amount of people crazy enough to do them!

The race started at 7am at Lake Anna, which is over an hour away from Richmond. My mom and I decided to stay in a hotel nearby so we wouldn't have to wake up at 4:30am on Saturday. It was fun to drive up there Friday night and be a part of the race atmosphere. After I picked up my race packet and checked into the hotel, we got dinner at a little Italian restaurant that was packed to the max with other racers. I almost felt like a poser because I knew most of them were doing the whole thing and I was only doing the running part. Maybe someday I will be in shape enough to do a half ironman, but I'm definitely not there yet!

My mom and I got to the race area around 6:30 Saturday morning (did I mention how cool it was that my mom wanted to come support me at my second half marathon? yeah, it was awesome!) I met up with my friends and fellow PT classmates, Meike and Austin. We got our stuff positioned in the transition area, got marked up at the body marking station, and headed over to the start area. The start got delayed 15 minutes because of fog on the lake, and the relays were the last heat, so we had a while to wait around.

Austin started us off with the 1.2 mile swim.

The buoys were SO far out on the lake, I couldn't believe it was only 1.2 miles.

It looked much, much farther. Can you even see the buoys in this picture? Nope, didn't think so. Austin did great though! She estimated it would take her about 45 minutes, but they called her name after only 35 - meaning she was near the end of the swim and Meike had to get ready to transition.

Austin ran up the beach to the transition area,

transferred the timing chip to Meike,

and Meike was off on her 56 mile bike ride! (With me cheering her on!)

Then we had to wait. Meike had estimated it would take her about 3.5 hours, but when you're biking 56 miles, there's a lot of leeway. She could have potentially finished anywhere between 3-4 hours, so I didn't know when I'd be starting my run. It was weird to have to wait around for so long. Most races start early in the morning, so I'm used to getting there and getting started early. Waiting around made me a little anxious.

Also, I didn't know what or how much I should eat. I ate breakfast, but I got hungry again before it was time for me to run, so I ate some goldfish, gummies, and a granola bar. And I drank an entire bottle of Powerade and two bottles of water. I wanted to stay hydrated because I knew it was going to be the middle of the day (aka HOT) by the time I started my run. My excessive consumption of liquids may have come back to haunt me during the race, but I'll get to that later.

Over two hours after Meike started out, the first cyclist finished the bike course. The first guy was about 10 minutes ahead of everyone else- crazy fast! The crowd of spectators got really excited as the other cyclists started coming back into the race area.

As it neared the 3 hour mark, I started getting nervous. I decided to head over to the transition area in case Meike finished much faster than she thought she would. I got ready. I put on sunscreen, retied my shoes, and drank water. Then I had to pee because I'd consumed so much water. I had to leave the transition area to go to the bathroom, and then I had to hurry because it had been over 3 hours since Meike started, so she could finish at any time.

As I was coming back to the transition area, my mom was frantically waving me over. I thought Meike was already there waiting for me, so I started running. It turns out they had called her name, but she wasn't in sight yet, thank goodness! I waited a few more minutes, carefully scrutinizing every biker who rounded the corner, until I finally saw her.

We did a quick chip exchange, then I was off on my 13.1 mile run!

More to come later: Read part 2 here.

What I miss the most

Back when I lived at home, I remember waking up to my mom's voice in the kitchen downstairs. My room was far enough away that I usually couldn't make out what she was saying. I just heard murmurs and the occasional clang of a pot or pan and sometimes the TV in the background. I could smell the fragrant aroma of coffee gently wafting up the stairs. When I woke up to all this, I immediately wanted to be a part of it. I didn't want to stay in bed one second longer. I couldn't wait to go downstairs and be a part of whatever was going on.

My mom was always the first one up. If I woke up early enough, I got my mom all to myself in the morning, until Leslie or Bud woke up. If I slept in, I would hear multiple voices downstairs, and then I really couldn't wait to get down there because I felt like I was missing out on the conversation. I would suddenly feel so lonely by myself in my big double bed and so eager to spend time with my family that I'd jump out of bed and head downstairs without wasting time to take a shower and get dressed. I just wanted to be with them as quickly as possible.

I miss that feeling. Today when I woke up, I laid in bed for awhile and had absolutely no motivation to get up and get going. My apartment was quiet. There was no bustle in the kitchen, no cacophony of voices, no smell of coffee brewing. No people around that I want to be with so much it would make me jump out of bed and forego an extra 15 minutes of sleep to spend time with them.

I miss my family more than anything. I love the hubbub of a full household. I love being with them first thing in the morning. I miss the closeness and the camaraderie and always having someone around to talk to. The worst thing about my clinical isn't that it's outpatient, monotonous, and long hours, but that it's 8 weeks that I have to be apart from my family. I can't wait to go home and be with them again!

First week of clinic

This week was my first week of clinical. It's been a little rough. I'm doing my required rotation in outpatient orthopedics, which is a field I don't like. That alone is enough to make it a long 8 weeks. Even though my CI is nice and the clinic I'm at is very well-run, I still don't like outpatient PT and I don't know if I ever will. It just seems very monotonous and boring to me. You see the same patients and do the same exercises day after day and it gets old fast. I'm not going to complain too much, because I really do like the clinic I'm at compared to other clinics I've seen, but it's just not for me.

It's also been hard to adjust because the hours are so long. I have to be there at 7:45am, which means I need to leave my apartment at 7:15am. Which means that if I want to do my devotions, go for a run, eat breakfast, and take a shower, I have to wake up at 5am. Not fun for someone who likes their sleep. I know I could push a few things till the evening, but the thing is I don't get off work till 5:30pm and I don't get home till 6pm. Once I get home and eat dinner it's already 7pm and then I only have a few hours before I have to go to bed. And I know if I leave too many things till the evening, they won't get done at all because I'll be tired by the end of the day.

My mom says "welcome to the working world". I told her I have to work 9.5 hour days which is longer than a typical workday. But I guess lots of people work longer than an 8 hour day now. I never realized how little time people have when they work a full time job. I feel like I have no time at all to get anything else done. The frustrating part is that I was just starting to get into a routine with my workouts and devotions and now I feel like I don't have enough time in the day to get it all done. Sigh. Why is it so freaking hard to work out in the morning? It's like everything conspires against me to keep it from happening. I've been trying to make it work this week, but I've also been tired during the day. I'm going to have to be creative to get in my workouts!

Interestingly, 8 hour workdays were not always standard. During the industrial revolution, factory employees worked much longer than 8 hours. Ford Motor was one of the first companies to implement an 8 hour work day and productivity sky-rocketed as a result. I found an interesting article on the subject here.

Finishing strong

So much has happened since I last blogged! I finished my second year of PT school, my mom came to visit, and I ran my second half marathon! And I start my clinic tomorrow. I'm not exactly excited about that last one. These last few days of freedom have been so sweet. I'm not ready to get back to the world of work/school/reality.

I took my last final on Tuesday, so I had 5 days off before my clinical rotation starts. In the week leading up to finals, I felt like I studied non-stop. My friends and I would go to Panera every day and sit there and study for hours. I ate way too much junk food and caffeine to fuel my study sessions. But it paid off because somehow I did really well in all my classes.

I must have been born under a lucky star when it comes to my GPA. I needed a 92% on the final to get an A in Neuro PT, and miraculously that's exactly what I got. I thought I had ended up with a B in Clinical Medicine, until I found a mistake on one of the questions. I e-mailed the professor and she re-keyed the test. Those extra two points bumped me up to an A in the class. I was rocking a solid B in Cardiopulm (a class I hate!) and I was okay with that. I studied for the final hoping for a B at best. I honestly didn't want to put in enough effort to get an A because I hate that class so much. Somehow the time I put the least effort into cardiopulm is the time I get an A on the test. My reaction when I saw my grade wasn't joy, it was more like "What the heck?" I have no idea how that happened. I also got 100% for participation, even though I skipped the last two classes. I don't know how I got so lucky, but I'll take it!

I also managed to fit a 10 mile run into my schedule in the midst of all these finals. I had to do a long run because my half marathon was coming up and I hadn't been getting much mileage in. As I was planning my route, I realized that this was only the fifth time I'd run a double-digit route. I ran 10 miles once before my half marathon (#1), then the Richmond half (#2), then I ran 10 miles once before the Cherry Blossom race (#3), and the Cherry Blossom race was a 10-miler (#4). Even though I feel like a runner now, I'm still sort of a newbie when it comes to running long distances.

My ten mile training run went great, though! I was a little worried about the heat at first. I didn't start my run until after 9am, which was later than I had wanted to start. It was a hot day, even in the morning. I was dripping in sweat by the second mile and totally soaked by the end of my run. But I had my water bottle and a gel for energy, and I remembered to put on sunscreen. My route had some shady parts and there were some nice cool breezes that made the heat bearable. It ended up being a pretty good run. After my last disastrous run on a hot day, it felt good to finish. It gave me a little bit of confidence that I can run in the heat. I just need to be prepared and maybe run a little slower.

Running in the heat was good practice for my half marathon. I ran the half as part of a relay team in the Kinetic Half Ironman triathlon. It was a hard, hot race, but I finished strong! I'll post details about that race later this week.

Easter eggs {tie-dyed}

Some of our best results this year

Last Easter, Leslie and I tried dying eggs with silk ties. They turned out so well that we wanted to do it again this year! I know this post is a bit late for Easter, but better late than never.

Leslie bought ten silk ties with really cool designs. We were so excited to see how the patterns would turn out on the eggs! Most of them turned out beautifully. Some of them turned out crappy. That's part of the fun- you never know exactly how they'll look. Some eggs are disappointments and some turn out much better than expected! It's so cool to unwrap the eggs and see what happened.

Here are the eggs we dyed this year:

1. This one turned out very true to form, except the green is lighter. It's amazing how clearly the pattern transferred.

2. This one didn't have a lot of surprises either. I like that it's a traditional Easter egg pattern with zig-zags and bright pastel colors.

3. I really liked this one. The pale pink and all the swirls and designs turned out so pretty. This is one of my favorites.

4. I really liked this one, too. I'm amazed at how clearly all the colors and patterns came out!

5. Here's one that didn't turn out quite so well, but I think it may have been our fault. The intricate gold pattern transferred well, but I don't think we got enough contact with the tie on a lot of areas, so that's why it looks kind of splotchy.

6. Here's one that was a surprise. The egg on the left had a cool swirling effect. I'm not sure what we did or why it turned out that way, but it was very cool!

7. This one turned out better than expected. Green is a color that often doesn't transfer very well, but this green turned out to be very pretty.

8. Here's one that was a disappointment. I was excited about this tie because I thought it would have a cool watercolor effect, but the colors didn't transfer well and the egg came out splotchy and ugly.

9. This is another disappointment. The colors are too light and faded.

10. This pattern was probably my favorite. Even though the blues turned out really light, the pattern is incredible, and the bright spots of pink add a pop of color. I love how these two eggs turned out!

Dying eggs this way is so easy! All you need to do is cut up some old silk ties (or anything that's 100% silk), wrap the tie pattern-side-down on the egg (make sure to get as much of the tie directly in contact with the egg as possible without wrinkles), and secure with a twisty tie. Then wrap the egg/tie bundle in a piece of pillowcase cloth and hard boil all the eggs in a pot of water with 1/4 cup vinegar added for 20 minutes. Let them cool, unwrap, and discover what patterns you created!