Braden, 4 miles, and other stuff.

Well, it's been a long time since I wrote!  Lots of things have happened since then!  First of all, I ran 4 miles without stopping or walking last Saturday.  Yay!  I was completely shocked at myself - I didn't think I could do it!  I'm so thankful for my friend Barbara who ran with me and distracted me from my thoughts of "how much longer" and "my legs hurt."  LOL!

Monday night, my sister-in-law and nephews were in a bad car wreck.  I was on the phone with them when it happened and heard the whole thing.  We are so thankful and grateful that Jesus was in that car, and everyone is ok.  Braden, my almost-8-year-old nephew, was hurt the worst and he's still in the hospital after having surgery on his face late Monday night.  He's slowly starting to eat, walk, talk, and open his eyes.  We would appreciate your continued prayers!

Kari, my sister-in-law, was driving the car and she has some pretty bad bruising and a broken foot.  Kari is an avid runner and a huge inspiration to me.  I feel SO bad for her and I know this is a huge disappointment.  She was going to run her first half-marathon next month and she's been training for it for...well, it seems like forever!  Also keep her in your prayers for a quick and full recovery for her foot so she can get back to running.

Keaton, my 4-year-old nephew, wasn't really hurt besides a bad bruise from his seatbelt. However, all three of them will definitely have some emotional healing to do. Keaton is very sad that Braden is hurt.  Please pray that all of their memories will be healed (and mine!), and pray for my brother Brad as he navigates through this situation on behalf of his family. We are all so thankful that they are alive and ok!

And now, on to other things.  My trainer had me running intervals this past Tuesday at a faster pace than I've ever run.  It was so hard, but I did it.  And then yesterday was the hardest workout yet.  We did a lot of lifting, and then I ran on an incline for the first time!  I did 2 minutes at faster than my "happy pace" on an incline, then 2 minutes at that same pace without incline, then walked for 1 minute.  I did that circuit 3 times.  It was hard and I'm feeling it today!

Tomorrow I have a 5K - it's the Color Me Rad run here in Orlando.  My assignment is to run the whole thing. Brian's doing it too, but he has back problems so he's going to walk it.  He could probably walk while I run and keep up with me, I'm so slow!!  LOL!!  After that, we're going to Universal Studios for the rest of the day.  It's EA day, (Brian's place of employment), so we get to go for free!  That's a lot of running and walking for one day!

OK, gotta go to water aerobics now.  I'm hoping to work out some of this lactic acid buildup in my muscles so I can run comfortably tomorrow.  See you then!