August 9th, 2014 – Strides for Breast Cancer 5K

The continued prayer is, “Lord keep me focused. Keep my mind stayed on You. Help me to bring You praise. I know You believe in me. Please help me in my unbelief. Amen.”


It has been quite some time since I’ve posted and there really is no excuse for that. I should be posting after every run. It’s much easier to identify tends with consistent documentation.

Also, it is easier to keep track of goals. Here are a couple I’ve been kicking around:

2014 was supposed to just be about getting used to being a runner again. Making it a priority and pretty much just staying in my jeans. But we all know that running is a seductive lover and the more you do it the more you want it….. Whether or not you actually do more, you always want more.

Ooooh, yes Baby! Right there. YES!

Ahem! 'Scuse me. Where were we? Goals, right!

Goal #1: Get the miles in. I’d like to get to a point where 4 miles is my regular maintenance run and 6 or 8 is my long run that I do at least once a week.

Right now, 3 miles is my regular maintenance run and I have no designated long run.


Goal #2: Run every day that I can. Being a busy wife and mom, it doesn’t work out every day. But there are plenty of days when it could work out but I still don’t go for one reason or another: I ran the day before, I’d just had a race, I’m not feeling super well, Grey’s Anatomy is on, etc.

Enough of that!!! I need to be at least walking every day that I have the time. It never fails that when I think I’ll be able to run the next day, something real comes up and I can’t go.


Goal #3: Do hills. I am hesitant about this one. The last time I claimed that 2013 would be The Year of the Hills, I got diagnosed with Cancer. I’m not superstitious, but any excuse to skip doing hills is alright with me. I hate hills. Still, that’s the goal.


Goal #4: Start looking for races. In 2015, I would like to do one organized race a month for the entire year. I did that in 2011 (and part if 2012) and I *loved* it.


Goal #5: Blog more. It helps.


Now, on to the Race!!!

This was not really a “race”, but a Walk. A fundraiser for Breast Cancer Research. I’m all for running for a cause but this one is, of course, very dear to me. Many of the organizations that helped me with my journey were represented there. So I was happy to be there with many other Supporters and Survivors.

I ran it. Most people walked it. It was an out and back course, which is not my favorite but it was a beautiful day in Thousand Oaks, so you can’t really mess it up.

The run felt good. It wasn't super well marked but there was plenty of support staff so there was no chance of getting lost.

There were beautiful people there and it was a lovely way to spend a Saturday morning. I kept it around a 12-min pace, which is good for me, and finished in decent time.

All in all it was pretty good.