Fun Run...well the end was special anyway...

I set off to do a five mile run today on the riverfront trail. The run was great. My easy/moderate pace was about 8:50. I hit 26 minutes at the three mile mark and ended at the five mile mark with a 43:53. Not bad for an easy run. I felt great when I finished, ready to take on the world. Good thing too; because when I looked down at the car key tied to my shoe and realized that wasn't the key to the car a drove to the trailhead. Crap...

I asked Aaron not to leave class early and just wait until it finished about an hour later. I went for a walk. It was beautiful and crisp out. The only negative thing out of it was that it was about 50 degrees outside and I was definately wearing a t-shirt and shorts! But I survived, Aaron is my hero, and I will pay attention to what car I am driving from now on!

Pumpkin Run Results

Hard work pays off! Those Devil's Ladders were killer, but I am pleased with taking 4th in my age group this weekend. Aaron placed 2nd!

Mmmmm... Sexy!

We now have a VHS to DVD converter which is amazing! At some point, I will have to edit some home videos with our movie maker and post them. In the mean time. I happened upon Christmas '89 and Christmas '92. 1992 was definately my year. I was the hottest 12 year old alive! Woot!


`



Chile, don't even think you are getting out of this one!!!!!!

My lovely sister...









The '80s were much better to us than the '90s...









Sexy!!!!!

Date with the Devil

I'm sure your mind conjured up all sorts of topics for this subject line, and most likely they are all wrong...

My training for my upcoming 5K is entirly different than the half marathon I ran last month. My concern with the half marathon was to finish. My biggest battle was legs of jello. I want speed with my 5K. In training so far, my legs haven't held me back. I just can't seem to get enough oxygen! My lungs burn the harder I push. They feel so full of air they feel like they will pop. Yet, it's not enough.

Today, my training consisted of the Devil's Ladder to help build speed and hopefully teach my body better use of oxygen. A Devil's Ladder starts out with a warm up, then you run a designated distance and recover, run farther, and recover, run even farther, recover, run not quite as far, recover, run a little less, and cool down. No doubt it's called the Devil's Ladder because you feel like you're in hell...

I ran half a mile warm up then ran a hard 0.1 mile, recovered 0.1 mile, hard 0.2, recovered 0.1, hard 0.3, recovered 0.1, hard 0.4, recovered 0.1, and back down again. I felt good, but at the end I know I could have pushed harder (definately didn't think so during the run, I was wondering why the heck I was torturing myself). One thing I have learned from Aaron is that it's not a "good" workout until your breakfast is out on the track...

It's 9 days to the race and I am pretty excited. Goal: Sub 26 minutes. Can I make it? If I decide it's worth it when my frozen butt is on the course next Saturday morning.

Half way to my 5K

I'm about 2 1/2 weeks out from my half marathon and 2 1/2 weeks away from running my 5K. I've been doing more speed work and tempo runs. I have also been careful to lengthen my strides. I ran 2 miles in 17:45 at lunch today. I am hoping to drop that a bit more. It takes me about a mile to warm up, so I need to figure out how I am going to approach that during the 5K. Maybe do a quick jog a few minutes before the race?

My sister and I got to share a run while I was in OK this weekend. Somehow, we always tend to make similar purchases at the same time. We both bought new running shoes within a day of each other last week.

What is This? Warning: Venting post...

Turner's opinion

How dare an American news organization show video of an American flag during a time of war? What is someone is offended? We need to be more tolerant and have all flags flying or no flags flying. And in the reporting, we should never state anything positive about the US. That might make others think we are imperialistic and dictating. In our tolerance, we must be peaceful and respect everyone, even if they want to kill us. After all, they are better than us. Everyone and everything is better than America...

So, if everyone hates the US so much, why are they still here? Why aren't they in Afghanistan and Iran with the Taliban? Why aren't they in North Korea with Kim? The direction we are going, we are going to lose our freedom to tolerance, maybe even our lives.

And the wavin' wheat can sure smell sweet ...

When the wind comes right behind the rain! Yup, I went home to Oklahoma this weekend. My friend Angie and I HAD to go home this weekend to see our former youth pastor get married.

I met up with Angie in KC and she drove to OKC as I combined our photos and writings from our high school years to create one amazing scrapbook for Tiffany. Best part: We put this thing together in the car in the dark! Somehow, a few feminine products managed to make it into the scrapbook as well...and maybe some of the pictures were cut into some creative anatomical shapes. If you knew us in high school, you're not surprised. I invented fuzzy dice tampons.





I also got to spend time with my sister and dad. My dad greatly enhanced the quality of my life by showing me the Gospel, through the eyes of Johnny Cash. He has a DVD, Johnny Cash and Jesus. I don't actually remember the name of the movie, but my title pretty much sums it up. Johnny Cash walks viewers through the life of Christ in a medley of his gospel songs. It was actually tastefully done. I just never would have thought such a production existed.


On the way back through KC I stopped by to see my Camille. I haven't seen her in 6 months. Actually, I hadn't seen anyone since April! Even though I spent 18 hours on the road and 36 hours at home, the trip was totally worth it to see my family and friends-and Tiffany get married. I'm still in shock!





















Cara, no doubt that new piercing made your mama proud...

Kristy, I promise I will see you Thanksgiving.

Bitter Sweet

This time of year is always brings me back to my roots. It’s not so much the travel season with Thanksgiiving and Christmas, but the change in the season with falling leaves and crisp air. It often brings feelings of anticipation, but also realization that the season of growth and life is coming to an end.

Six years ago this past Friday, I was driving home to Oklahoma on a warm sunny day during my fall break from college. I was anticipating a time of relaxation filled with family and friends. Later that afternoon, I was riding home from the hospital where my mom had just been pronounced dead. Clouds were building up and began to block out the warmth of the sun. The air grew cold as the winds picked up. I felt alone.

I found myself on the road home again this weekend. This time for a new beginning.


To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven

A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep

To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven

A time to build up, a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones
A time to gather stones together

To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven

A time of war, a time of peace
A time of love, a time of hate
A time you may embrace
A time to refrain from embracing

To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven

A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time to love, a time to hate
A time of peace, I swear it's not too late!

The Byrds
Turn! Turn! Turn! (to Everything There Is a Season) Lyrics