Faith Laces

...I post an update. I'm sure my readers have moved on by this point. It's been about 8 months since I last posted - totally unacceptable. However, I do have some good reasons - a new baby and a new house along with some personal hardships that I don't want to get into. My routine was thrown completely out of whack and blogging fell to the bottom of my priority list. I'd planned on changing that by participating again in the A-Z Challenge, but couldn't get my ducks in a row on time. However, I do want to start blogging regularly again, even if I'm doing it just for me. What I love about blogging is the ability to capture moments in my life that I can look back on months and even years later. Last year at this time, I was in the third trimester of my pregnancy and my mileage was on the decline. Oh what a difference a year makes! This year I'm in week 13 of training for the Pittsburgh Marathon on May 4th. I'm up to 51 miles this week! I've chronicl...

Today I'm happy to welcome Pamela D. Williams author of A to Z Devotions for Writers. Her book is a must have for any writer. Not only is it full of inspiration, it's full of great tips and writing exercises. Pamela D. Williams, Author  of A to Z Devotions for Writers Welcome to my blog, Pamela! I'm happy to have you here.  To start off, who is your favorite author and is your writing style similar to theirs? My two favorite authors are Gladys Taber and Jan Karon. My writing style is similar to Taber’s and my life is similar to the one Karon writes about. What's your favorite part of a book? The ending is always bittersweet for me—I love the resolution to conflict and the time to reflect but I miss the characters. Who are your target readers? For A to Z Devotions for Writers, my target audience is writers, of course. My other writing is mainly aimed at the average adult who is a Christian. What are the major themes of your work? God’s grace and His po...

July 8 - July 14, 2013 6 Weeks Postpartum Nathan's been great about giving me time to run; he just hasn't been as cooperative about giving me time to write about it! Still keeping to the same schedule and including speed work. I'm back to running my old route on my long run days. Each week I add a bit more distance, but I'm not doing the entire 14 miles yet. Here are some photos I took along the way. Passing one of three dairy farms... Over a flowing stream... Past one of five corn fields... Storm clouds in the distance... Beside an apple orchard... And over railway tracks.

July 1 - 7, 2013 5 Weeks Postpartum Keeping up with the same schedule. I've also started doing speed intervals - running all out for a short period of time and then slowing back to my normal pace. I'm faster than I was when pregnant, but still not where I was before I was pregnant. Photo Credit - Faith Laces For my long runs I bought a new water bottle. It's from Runner's World. Pros - it's lightweight and easier to carry than a regular water bottle. Cons - the water still tastes like the plastic bottle. We had a great 4th of July holiday. At first Nathan's eyes got really wide when he heard the booming of the fireworks, but eventually, he was over it and ready to eat. Makayla was so excited for the fireworks, but as soon as they started she kept asking when they'd be over! Go figure! Photo Credit - Faith Laces

June 24 - 30, 2013 4 Weeks Postpartum Sunrise Photo Credit - Faith Laces I've fallen into a somewhat regular schedule of running 4 miles Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday mornings and doing a long run (around 8-9 miles) on Saturdays. I noticed this week that the tight feeling I've had in my lower abdomen has gone away. It wasn't a painful feeling, but whenever I'd start running I'd feel a tightness in my stomach that would slowly fade as I ran, but this week it's disappeared completely. Another slight pain has developed, though - in my left knee. I notice it the most when I stand up after sitting for a while. It hasn't affected my running - yet. One thing I've noticed about running in the morning besides the beautiful sunrises, is cobwebs! I'm constantly running through cobwebs. I understand running through them when I run through a wooded area, but some cobwebs are seemingly just hanging in mid-air. I can't figure out what they ar...

June 17 - June 23, 2013 3 Weeks Postpartum Photo Credit - Faith Laces This week all my runs were in the early morning partly because of the heat, but mostly because I was helping with my church's Vacation Bible School in the evenings. I'm glad that Nathan cooperated with me because after VBS I was way too tired to go for a run. I love helping with VBS. I enjoy watching my daughter grow in her faith. I also find that VBS is a week-long boot-camp to strengthen my own faith. Sometimes simple reminders go a long way. Monday - 4 miles God's love helps us to stand strong. Tuesday - 4 miles Family and Friends help us to stand strong. Thursday - 4 miles Prayer helps us to stand strong. Friday - Yoga The Bible helps us to stand strong. Saturday - 8 miles Sunday - 4.5 miles

June 10 - 16, 2013 2 Weeks Postpartum Since Nathan is getting into a more regular eating schedule, this week I was able to increase the amount of time running and started tracking my mileage again. My plan is to gradually increase my mileage as I (hopefully get faster). On Monday I ran 4 miles in the evening. On my way home, it started raining, like heavy, buckets of rain pouring from the sky. I was soaked in seconds. At one point, a neighbor driving by in his car stopped and asked if I wanted a ride, but I was already wet so there was no point. I appreciated the offer. Getting rained on in the summer isn't that bad. The worst part was my cell phone getting wet - two weeks later it died. On Tuesday I ran 4 miles in the evening and again it rained, but this time it was light and refreshing. Thursday I again ran 4 miles in the evening. On Friday I did Jilian Michael's Yoga video which was a great workout. I was surprised to find that I was able to do the workout ...