Should've taken the mascara off..........Amber

April 30, 2006: 12km: 1 hour

Not too bad of a time today! Starting to get better endurance, but it's taken a long time! Both my outsides and my insides were hurting today. Meaning that my knees and achilles ached while my stomach was crampy and my lungs felt like cracking! For almost the entire run I was hurting...but sometimes it feels so good to persevere for perseverence sake!

I had waited all weekend for this run! It's been cloudy for the past three days, but no rain. So I waited, and waited, and waited....and then it finally started to spit! So I grabbed all my rain gear and headed out! Ah man, I wasn't disappointed! I started off in the country on the gravel roads where the fields were burning and it smelt like Africa again! For a lot of the run I had to remind myself to run "heel-toe, heel-toe" just because my first instict is to run on my toes (like a sprint). I think I live my life that way as well where I am constantly reminding myself that life about endurance and not just sprinting from one thing to another.

Uneventful run.....Amber

April 27: 6km: 45min

AGAIN! I'm so slow! haha! I find that when I run outside I'm a lot slower...maybe it's because of the environmental factors...But I liked my route today! I went in the Quarries and there was lots of hills, which is a nice change! I used to run in there a lot but I usually don't because it can get mucky if it's rained. There's one hill that's really big and usually a challenge for me. I remember when I was stressed out about something, I would name the hill whatever thing that was stressing me out at the moment, and when I made it up the hill I would feel like I had overcome my problem. False sense of victory?! Maybe...but it was such a stress reliever that I didn't care! So running that hill today brought be back to so many different memories which was neat. Because those problems have been resolved and beaten

long and lazy...or was that slow and steady?? Amber

April 22 (I think); 10km; 1hour

It's been a couple of days since this run and I don't remember much...but as one of my clinical instructors always said, "a little bit is better than nothing and later is better than never!" Wow we got a long well! haha! But yeah it was a beautiful day this past Saturday and the back roads were just a callin my name! It was like 20C and the sun was just setting over the fields! Sigh! beautiful! I decided to go right instead of left tonight; which is werid for me...but a trend that my dear mother has started! It was so much fun because there were all new roads to explore and everything was different! For one thing...there certainly was a whole lot more cows and horses on this side! we talked lots...they were good company!

So much to think about...that I wasn't in a hurray to move. I think that's why it took so long! I just didn't want it to end! Funness all over!

No further.....Amber

Saturday, April 15, 2006: 5km: time unknown.... Picture: Mantario Trail 2004

This was an unexpected run...I had just gotten home from Brandon when a friend called me up and asked if I wanted to go for a run! I had already spent a good chunk of the day walking in the sun/sitting in a car while drinking WAY too much coffee and not enough water. Let me tell you, this was not a pretty run! I had cramps after the first km and I was out of breath and tired! But the company was wonderful and the sunset over the grain fields never disappoint, so it was all good!

Just surprised me how much I need to prepare my body for any kind of run that is longer than 5km. Make sure that you drink a lot of water and eat the proper food at the proper times...And just how I couldn't "make the distance" (hah how cheezy) when I hadn't prepared myself. I think that's direct link to my personal, spiritual life! It's like...if I know that I"m preaching or preparing for a big event, I'll spend lots of time in the Word and speak and listen constantly to God; and then I'm prepared. But why is it that I only do the bare minimum to get me through the day/situation?

Shine shine moonbeams.....Amber

April 13,2006: 12km: 50minutes

An AMAZING RUN! That was a really good time for me and I haven't done a 12 km for probably a year! I'm getting ready for the half marathon and I think that there's hope now! haha. I drank coffee all day (because I was so tired) and no water so I had cramps the entire time and my knee was hurting, but the weather was just spectacular! The moon was out, it had just rained, no wind, perfect temperature....sigh; I just couldn't stop running! If my knee wasn't hurting so much then I would've ran all night! At first the clouds were covering everything and there wasn't even a single star out...Then after the first 3 km you could see the moon light shadow the different clouds. So many moonbeams shooting everywhere...and then after the 8th km I could see all the moon and the stars and it was just so magical; Just like I was running in a differnt world.

Another thing I noticed was that whenever I go for a run there is usually something either with my body or my environment that I have to fight or struggle against. Something that makes me want to stop running. Like windy and hot days are always make hard runs OR.... My ankle/knee will start hurting or the cramps won't go away. And it just depends on where my focus is. Like since the weather was more amazing than my body pains, I kept running. I think maybe life can be that way. Where either our environment or our internal well being can be hurting.

Lalala.....Amber

April 9, 2006: 10km: 60minutes....

LOOKED amazing outside...once out there it was SOOOO windy. I think that's why my time was so slow. But I did get a chance to finish my long run for the week. I had drank (drinken? drinked?) tons of water and allowed a long time for my food to digest but I still got bad cramps at the 5km mark. Oh well...got a chance to run a lot against the wind and when I wasn't running against the wind it was really really hot. BUT! on the good side I didn't hurt after the end of this one.

When I started on the back road, I noticed that there was someone ahead of me. I know that obviously I'm not the only person in my town that runs, but I have never seen anyone else on that back road the same time as me (unless I'm running with someone from my family). Haha I felt like my privacy was being invaded. But I like having my own world where there isn't anyone to fight off except the trucks that spit rocks at my head (slight overdramatization). Anywho...gnight

Short and sweet......Amber

April 5: 2miles: 30min

DID NOT feel like running today. My body has been hurting so much lately! But I remember the words of my clinical instructor Tanya, that a little is better than nothing. So to the "Kiln" and back I went! It was slow and short but the weather was beautiful! Nothing to complain about

On the way there and back I passed this class of kids. And everytime I passed them the teacher would get them all lined up so I could pass...which was really nice of her! And then a few of the boys would start chanting "go! go! go!" while the girls would say hi and smilie! With so many decisions and personal issues on my mind it was great to just laugh to myself and enjoy something so precious and simple.

Ice Ice Baby.....Amber

April 4, 2006...5km: 30min

Tuesdays I usually run with my friend Jason. It's usually a nice break from being alone and it makes me really competetive so that's good/bad. hah. And it's good to get used to runnning beside other people, because it does change your pace a bit. AND...another benefit is that usually we talk and I find it harder to talk and run at the same time. ARGH!We usually run in this grave yard that is right next to the school and it has big trees with a bridge...so scenic! WOOT! But I was doing a lot of biking and basketball yesterday so my legs gave out before my cardio did. But it was still really icy and Jason actually wiped out pretty bad and hurt his knee. Nothing is worse than ice. Would rather have wind, snow, heat, and rain all at the same time than run on ice.

So yeah. Ice was a downer. The fact that it was a 8am run was a downer. And both me and Jason were pretty grumpy from going to bed so late. Besides the weather being amazing there really wasn't a whole lot of joy in this run!haha. But it felt good anyways.

Great Grain Relay Feb 2006

It would be best to start. Amber

Actually this whole blog will be written by me...unless Ashley gets some kind of inspiration to start running...or at least to make fun of me! :D haha jk.
I've been running for 3 years and I just basically want to start logging in my runs, to keep track of my progress.A completely selfish blog so no worries if you don't read any further!

April 2, 2006: 9.5km in 50 minutes

I have no idea why but this was one of the easiest long runs I've had in a long time. By myself...no mp3 player...running in the back roads at sunset. sigh! So freaking relaxing. I was worried because I had been drinking coffee all day and absolutely no water so I thought I would have cramps for sure after the first 5km. The wind wasn't even bad when going against it. After doing the back roads I started into town. I always do the town part last because it's the busiest and if my form/speed starts to fail then I at least have my pride to motivate me to keep going!

I day dreamed a lot. Nothing really deep or interesting to report. At first I went through the mental list of everything I had to get done before the day is over...but by the time I get my rhythm...everything else has melted away. Normally this is my favorite time to converse with God about all the rediculous things that are plaguing my heart...things that I am embarressed to care about usually. Freedom of thought between me and my Maker. But not this run. It was a mindless run with nothing accomplished.

I think I'm going to blog 2 paragraphs everytime I run...one for the physical and one for the mental/spritual. Those are the areas that seem to be affected the most by this seeminly rediculous pastime.