Lessons From My First Mini!

Well, I have my first HALF MARATHON under my belt now!!!!!

I have been an on again, off again runner since after my first child was born nearly eight years ago.  But, you know what?  I kept having children!  That put some breaks in training.  So, NOW, at 34 years old I had time, ambition, energy and will power to train.

Ten weeks ago I started this training and what started as an exhausting 3 miles started to get easy until 3 miles felt like a jog in the park.  Then 5 miles and then 7.  Because of our crazy schedule lately I had only been able to do one 10 mile weekend run and not nearly as many as I should have been doing.  But, I am a strict person when it comes to commitment and I made a commitment to this and Darn It I was going to DO IT!!

(This was taken right before I ran into the poor man in front of me!  Leave it to me!)

So here are the top ten things I got out of my first half marathon!

10. I CAN do it!  No matter what doubts I had in my head, or my body, I CAN do it and there were many others out there from 12-75 years old of all body types that were doing it too!

9. I now understand, after all this, what those funny chaffing creams are for.  I have chaffing burns in the most unlikely of places!

8. Good shoes really DO make all the difference!

7. The "Little Engine"knew what he was talking about, "I think I can" is a great mantra to repeat while running and keeps a good breathing rhythm as well!

6. Wicking clothes are no joke.  Get some!  Even for landscaping and things around the house I think I will use them!

5. There is this weird transition that happens after a while of running that all you want to do is stop and walk, but it actually hurts to walk and your body feels so much better when it is running.  That is never a truth I thought this girl would ever say!

4. One of the most unflattering places to find women are in the bathrooms before and after a race.  That is all I will say about that.

3. I can't imagine running without my Juice Plus!  I took a double dose last night and this morning, used the chewables for some extra fuel during the race and had a double shake when I was done!  Love that I have all of that God given fuel to work with as I stretch the potentials of this body.

2. My family and friends.  Brian has worked around my schedules for running, encouraged me, asked about my runs when I got home everyday and they were right there at the finish line.  Balloons, cheering, wanting some mama love. My dear friend Lori was there too and it was candy to my heart to see her after she had been away so long.  Friends that ran too and friends that couldn't and just cheered me on via facebook and messages.  It was heart warming.

1. I couldn't have gotten here without my FAITH!  The words echoing in my ears throughout my run, the prayers before my run, the prayers of my friends and family during my run.  I seriously couldn't have done it without feeling like every person I have had to say goodbye to over the years wasn't right there with me, pulling me along at times.  Some of them with the sincerest sarcasm about what I was doing, some encouraging and some just present because that is where I needed them.

I am happy with my time.  The goal was under 2:30 for my first half marathon and I achieved it!

Now, I am going to go upstairs and take a nap!  Wait!  First I have to see if I can move out of this chair.

Get out there and try my friends!  Even if it is just a quarter mile today, get out there and try!  It does a body, and soul, Good!

Remember Me?

Hi there!  Remember Me?  It is ok, sometimes I don't either these days.  I wanted to get a post out there because I have missed you all and I didn't want you calling missing persons or anything.

This winter has been the furthest from a good hibernation that you can get!  Life has been on overdrive lately, but we are good, happy, relatively healthy except for our bodies continually fighting off all of these terrible illnesses going around this winter.  I think we can all agree this has been a BAD winter for sicknesses.  We have been fortunate that with four of these little monkeys that are constantly surrounded by a herd of children coughing and sneezing that we have only had what we have.  We have been eating and drinking a LOT of fruits and vegetables this winter and keeping things relatively at bay.

Here is a photo journal of sorts of the Harden's journey over the last month.

Regular dentist appointments for all!

A small vacation in the midst of an on and off family sick week.  It was still fun to go!

Dates continue with the girls.  Though hard to fit in some weeks it is nice to spend some time with each of these awesome ladies.

Concerts and other church activities have kept us very busy, but spiritually rich, meeting new and incredible people and having so much fun.

Valentine's Day was a great success due to a sneaky daddy creating a beautiful morning for all of this ladies.

Bella had a tumor grow very rapidly, vet visits, worry and concern followed by a "watch and see" prognosis. It was a histiocytoma and is nearly completely disappeared now.  Only Bella!  She will be 13 this year and she still surprises us.

Trinity and Lana are officially signed up for Kindergarten.  What a bitter sweet transition this will be. 4.5 months until K Day.

Sledding in March!

Journey getting Daddy in the face with snow was priceless!

Skyla made it to the Regional Science and Engineering Fair this year with her project on density and buoyancy.  It was fun to see her succeed and we are proud of her bravery in speaking with three judges about her project.  There were army-like guards keeping parents from coming onto the floor at all.  This was all them!

Cookie time!  This was a new adventure for us.  

More Dates!

Visiting new places and having some fun!

A nine week Alpha course was concluded and we met some amazing people!  Love how God adjusts our paths to intersect with others and create great relationships and grow.

I have been working hard to help others learn and discover the health of whole food living and how they can go about it.  I have also had the pleasure of helping people find great opportunities for themselves and their families.  So blessed!

Playdates and fun with little friends and big friends all around.

I hope your winter has been filled with joy, new relationships, growth and prosperity, love and kindnesses.  Now that March is here, life is getting a bit more on schedule and spring is hopefully coming soon, I will find more time to not only live my life, but record it every once in a while and help others live theirs as well.  That is what it is about after all, right?  During our lives we either need a hand to hold or someone else needs ours.  Living without this realization is not living at all.