27 April 2012

Goal :) Reached! Yes!

Goal!  You did it!  You brought me to my goal of $2620 for the race.  Thank you for your generosity and kindness, love and support!  Onward to the race on May 6th!  YaY!!



I reached my GOAL!!!


Blessings! and Joy!
nicole mArie

25 April 2012

btw, 10, omg.

By the way,  I ran 10 miles in 105 minutes last Saturday :)  In the rain.  It was awesome.  I might have been sore until yesterday ;) but it was totally worth it.

I was going to link a map of my 10 miles, but for safety reasons, I won't do that ;)  

I have a 50 minute run to do today, and another on Friday before a 5 miler this Sunday.  Yep, 10 is the longest I go before the race in 10 days.  I have been preparing and thinking about this for so long.  To think that it is just around the corner is strange -- but quite wonderful.  I just want to DO IT now!

Another plug for my charity:
I am only 233.40 from my goal.  Please help me make up this little bit and reach $2620!!!!!

Nicole Marie's Fundraising Page

Blessings! and Joy!
nicole mArie

18 April 2012

A Call for Sponsors! Please!

A call for sponsors! I've only got 17 days to raise $673.40 for Women's Choice Network before my I run my first 1/2 marathon on May 6th. Please help! Please donate! Please pray for my health as I continue to train!

Thank you, dear friends :) 
Blessings!  and Joy!
nicole mArie


Nicole Marie's Fundraising Page


UPDATE: I only have $373.40 to go!  Woot!  The people in my life are such witnesses of love and generosity! Thank you :D

17 April 2012

before 7:15 am I can run 5 miles

That's what I did this morning.  I ran 5 miles before 7:15.  It felt SoOoOO good!   And the morning was beautiful.  The sky was perfect and colorful, the birds were singing -- even the wild turkeys :) -- it was fantastic and fresh.  Running felt nice, which is a huge plus because when I ran this weekend, it was all I could to do get a 5k in (I was slated for 8 miles. yikes).  Thank goodness for my cousin, Ray, who decided to run with me.  I would have stopped a few feet into the run (seriously), but he kept me moving.  I figured that since I hadn't run for a week (I was sick with an awful chest cold), that anything would be better than those first few few feet.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I was not excited about the waking up part this morning -- 5:30 am comes really, really, really early, especially when I woke up with each of my children last night and I had a few coughing fits -- but I thought leaving someone (my running buddy) on the corner in the just-before-dark-lifts kind of light at 6 am would have been shady of me.

I am starting to really stress about the race IN 18 DAYS!  I keep getting sick or life gets in the way and I am not feeling prepared for it.  I've got a 10 mile run slated for this weekend.  It is the last weekend before the race for me to run that far before having to just step back and taper and chill out (I think that I was scheduled to do it a week ago).  The friend that I ran with this morning was trying to calm me down while I was expressing my nervousness.  He reminded me to stay in a good place in my head because all of this training is a mental battle, too.  If I mess up my head space, I won't even be able to do it.   He's totally right.

I have more to write, but the little boys just woke up.  I will say that waking up early to run facilitated my ability to shower, pray, have coffee on my front porch, and now write this blog before the littles woke up.  I am a huuuugggeee fan of all of those things :)

Blessings! and Joy!
nicole mArie


Also, I am still looking for sponsors for the race!  I would really like to reach my goal of $2620, and I am hoping for your help!  Thank you :)

Nicole Marie's Fundraising Page

09 April 2012

Eastertide

Grace and peace and blessings upon you and your families on this most glorious Easter Monday! 

I don't know about you,  but I am completely prepared to celebrate Easter for its whole season! 50 days!  Yes!

With so much Joy!
nicole mArie

Christ is risen!  He is risen,  indeed!


02 April 2012

These are not your typical running shoes ;)

 These are not running shoes. 
(just in case you were fooled)
These are the shoes that I will be wearing for my cousin's wedding in June.  I really, really, really dig these shoes. 



I can't wait to put my feet, now so accustomed to actual running shoes,
into these 
pretty
girly
glittery & shiny shoes 
for an evening!












I think that I might need to train myself to walk in them. Ha!
(I think that you think I'm kidding)


Blessings! and Joy!
nicole mArie

01 April 2012

things i thought (after my 8 mile run)

i like to run.
i dislike the first 2 miles of my runs.  if a person thinks that they hate running,  i say that they need to learn to run longer than 2 or 3 miles, and they just might find that they do like running (after the first 2 are out of the way)
 
i am thankful for Clif Shot Bloks Energy Chews.
 
i don't dislike running hills,  i just don't like how slowly i run hills currently.
i think that Walk It Out is a funny song to listen to while running.
i am so grateful for my husband who cooked me eggs and made me a smoothie when i walked in the door from my run.
i think it's pretty neat that i burned 951 calories
i think that it's comical that i probably ate all of those calories back when we were at Moe's for dinner ;)
i think that I'm incredibly blessed, and i am so very pleased to be sharing this adventure with you
Blessings! and Joy!
nicole mArie