running aspirations for the weekend.

i've GOT to get in two runs this weekend: 18 on sat and 10 on sun.
my goal is to consistently do 15-18 on sat and 10-12 on sunday before my training officially begins and i can't seem to get there. i've done 12/10 or 15/5 but man! it's so hard to find the time!!! let's hope it'll happen this weekend.

i seem to hit a mental wall at 15 when i'm running by myself, so i'm hoping that running w/ my running pal will help me get there. it'll gonna be a cold one though ;(

i'm taking today off. LOVE IT!

Good websites

A quick browse on holy experience's blog
introduce a couple of websites that i want to bookmark and save for later:

http://www.seedsmusic.com/
http://www.biblestorieswithmrsg.org/
http://biblebrowser.com/

A different world

Accidental pastor's wife
shared this blog holy experience that I spent browsing for the last 30 minutes and couldn't get over how different her life seemed to mine. there seemed to be a quiet peace about her website and life. it was a nice visit.

Thanks for sharing.

and the brainwashing begins...

today i sat w/ our jewel and we watched the beginning of anne of green gables together.
my man's class got canceled tonight so we watched a big portion of part 1. oh i LOVE it. it makes me want to live there - in anne world. sigh sigh.

i need to find a picture book version of anne of green gables to read to our jewel. i don't think she'll sit through the real one just yet.

can't wait for our vacation!

sweet kisses

our jewel has been really into kissing these days. it's so cute. she kisses our elbows, our belly, our cheeks... just randomly, she'll run over and lay one on your knee. ha ha ha. it cracks me up!

church membership?

is that biblical?
we're currently attending a church that institutes a membership. they have a membership program and after you go through the program, you are presented before the church body where you answer some questions.
questions such as:
do you promise to join a ministry and/ or small group?
do you promise to commit to tithing?
do you submit to church discipline?
do you promise not to gossip?

1. where is the Biblical support for this?
2. if yo're going to have public questions - why wasn't one of the questions - are you a christian?????
3. i think i understand the underlying motive for why they want to do this. they want to create a family - a close body of believers that keep each other accountable. but, i guess i'm troubled at the way they're going about it. esp because most of the questions seemed to be focused on actions - outward, tangible things you do. yes, i totally believe that there should be fruit to our faith and our faith should be evident. but shouldn't the questions should be centered about something like the 5 solas? (sola christo, sola scriptura, sola gracia, sola fide, sola gloria). it should be Christ that compels us to all these things and they should be an outflow of our relationship w/ Him. but if we just focus on the outward actions as the end - then isn't that legalism?

Sis' baby shower

went up north this past weekend for my sister's baby shower. it was nice to meet her friends and it was fun to spend time w/ her before the baby came. our jewel had a BLAST w/ her auntie.
and she loved being doted on by all the ladies at the shower.
i have to say though, that i did notice a difference in the few hours i spent w/ these new yorkers. the influence of new york wealth was apparent - not because they flaunted it, but you could just tell - you know what i mean?
maybe i noticed it because it's something i'm trying to fight against - this whole yuppy generation where bugaboo strollers are now the standard, wives w/o kids stay home just cause, and 2 carat rings shine on the fingers of these newlyweds. it's not that they're bad in and of themselves, but what's the limit? ya' know?

My significant other

the treadmill - my faithful pal.
stayed w/ me for 15 miles. but when i was done w/ the last mile, i was SO DONE!

that was friday. was supposed to do 10 today (sunday) - instead, i'm just gonna chill and go to bed early! i feel guilty, but not enough to go to the gym.

getting dissed

so after a long hard day at work, my friend asked me to meet her at 4:50 am the next day and go for a 7 mile run. i didn't want to but somehow she convinced me to do it. i get up this morning, put on my clothes,all the while dreading the run b/c i hear the wind howling outside. i get into my car - flip open my phone and what do i see? a message saying she's not going. ugh! at this point, i was already dressed and in the car, so i met up w/ the 5miles at 5am group but man! getting dissed at 4am is rough.

she PROMISED she's meet me tomorrow AM. :)

Valentine's Day

We went out to dinner on the 15th (friday) to one of our favorite restaurants, but this time, it wasn't great - i was a bit disappointed, esp considering how much the dinner cost.

1. the raspberry in the champagne was rotten
2. my food was REALLY salty. i drank about 2 pitchers of water while i was there

but it was niceto be out w/ the hubby and have him ALL TO MYSELF :)

The Training before the training

So I'm currently working on building a good base before my ultramarathon training begins in May.

So far, it's been subpar. I'm currently doing about 30 miles a week and I need to get up to about 50. This weekend, my goal was 10 on saturday and 15-18 on sunday. well, instead i actually did 5 on sat and 13 on sun. not the best way to start off the week. ugh! guilt guilt guilt.

In case you're wondering, this is the schedule I am planning to use:

Week	M	T	W	TH	F	S	SU
1	Rest	6-10 miles, including 4x1 mile at TMP	Easy 5-mile jog	7-9 miles, middle 3 at MP	Rest	90-minute run	3-hour run (or about 18 miles)
2	Rest	6-10 Miles, including 4x1 mile at TMP	Easy 5-mile jog	7-9 miles, middle 3 at MP	Rest	90-minute run	3-hour run
3	Rest	6-10 miles, including 2x2 miles at HMP	Easy 5-mile jog	7-9 miles, middle 3 at MP (5:00)	Rest	2-hour run	3.5-hour run (or about 20 miles)
4	Rest	5-8 miles, including 3x1 mile at TMP	Easy 5-mile jog	6 miles, middle 2 at MP	Rest	1.5-hour run	2-hour run
5	Rest	9 miles, including 6x1 mile at TMP	Easy 5-mile jog	9 miles, middle 3 at MP	Rest	3.5- to 4-hour run (or about 20-24 miles)	3-hour run
6	Rest	9 miles, including 6x1 mile at TMP	Easy 5-mile jog	9 miles, middle 3 at MP	Rest	3.5- to 4-hour run	3-hour run
7	Rest	9 miles, including 6x1 mile at HMP	Easy 5-mile jog	9 miles, middle 3 at MP	Rest	3.5- to 4-hour run	3-hour run, last hour at MP
8	Rest	9 miles, including 3x2 miles at HMP	Easy 5-mile jog	9 miles, middle 3 at MP	Rest	2-hour run	2.5-hour run
9	Rest	9 miles, including 6x1 miles at TMP	Easy 5-mile jog	9 miles, middle 3 at MP	Rest	4-hour run	3.5-hour run, last hour at MP
10	Rest	9 miles, including 6x1 miles at TMP	Easy 5-mile jog	9 miles, middle 3 at MP	Rest	4-hour run	3.5-hour run, last hour at MP
11	Rest	9 miles, including 3x2 miles at HMP	Easy 5-mile jog	9 miles, middle 3 at MP	Rest	2.5-hour run	3-hour run
12	Rest	9 miles, including 6x1 mile at TMP	Easy 5-mile jog	9 miles, middle 3 at MP	Rest	4-hour run	5-hour run (or about 27-29 miles)
13	Rest	9 miles, including 6x1 mile at TMP	Easy 5-mile jog	9 miles, middle 3 at MP	Rest	4-hour run	5-hour run
14	Rest	9 miles, including 4x1 mile at TMP	Easy 5-mile jog	9 miles, middle 3 at MP	Rest	2-hour run	2-hour run
15	Rest	7 miles, including 3x1 mile at MP	Easy 5-mile jog	7 miles, middle 3 at MP	Rest	1.5-hour run	Easy 1-hour jog
16	Rest	6 miles, middle 3 at HMP	Easy 5-mile jog	Easy 3-mile jog	Rest: Stay off your feet	50-mile race	Rest. (Duh.)

Key:(MP) Marathon Pace: the pace/effort you can hold in a marathon

(HMP) Half-Marathon Pace: the per-mile average of your best half-marathon

(TMP) 10-Mile Pace: the per-mile pace of your fastest 10-miler

Recovery for HMP/TMP: Jog slowly until you feel fresh enough to start the next repetition.

Super bowl menu

This is what we had:

1. 7 layer dip (i modified it so it wasn't as bad as it could be)
ground beef w/ homemade taco seasoning
salsa
cheese
(put in oven until it melts)
then pile on the lettuce
tomatoes
mashed avocados

2. hot wings
3. chili
4. caesar salad

i went to costco and the refrigerator was jam packed on friday
come tuesday, it was a bare li' thing.

please seemed to like the dip

Super Tuesday

should vote - but WHO????
i took this test that told me who i should vote for, but they're no longer running and the person that i was 75% tied to but i don't really want to vote for this person.... hummmmmm


not sure who to vote for? see if this will help:
http://www.vajoe.com/candidate_calculator.html

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey

It brought tears to my eyes as I was reading this to our jewel tonight before bed:
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey

it reminded me of the love of Christ and how He looks at the heart of each individual and know what they need. It reflects that a child can share the gospel message in such a powerful way and not even know it. they're not trying so hard and they don't have this hidden agenda, but instead it's reality to them. sometimes, it seems i treat the gospel message as a distant story, rather than reality - esp when life is coming at me 100 mph and i'm not ready for it.

thank you Jesus for the pause you've given me in something so simple as reading our jewel to bed.

Knowing God

our small group is reading this so i wanted to keep a running log of things that impressed me.
funny how we're coming back to this years later. my man and i read this together in 2000 before we started dating. it's interesting to see how we've changed/grown since then.

thoughts from chapter one:
1. i want to focus on and think on God. i find that i think/ analyze myself too much in proportion to thoughts on God.
2. may knowledge of God not lead to pride but to transformation of the heart.

Stephen Charnock

I've stumbled across the preacher from the late 1600's. good stuff, but i can't read it this late in the evening. i'm off to bed but i wanted to make sure that i noted it so that i go back to it soon.

Discourse on the existence and attributes of God.

Jewelry

check this out. pretty cool:
Wonderfully made