{Love & Inspiration}

A new week + a new month = a fresh start!

Last week, I had to put running on the back burner. My genius self decided to take a tumble, the results a bit of a sprained ankle. I wish I had a great story to share about how it all happened but truth be told, I was cleaning out the inside of my car and just so happened to step down the wrong way. Oh the perks (or drawbacks) of living on a hill and driving a super sized vehicle!

I have to admit I was sad and a little heartbroken. For the past couple of months I had been focusing most of my energy on studying. Being accepted into the graduate program with very high hopes of completing my Masters Degree in Elementary Education has been a dream that I've been holding onto for quite some time. I made the decision to put things on hold for a bit because well simply stated, I became a bit overwhelmed with life. Moving away from a life that I loved, transitioning a family of 5 with kids who understood exactly what was going on, starting a new life with no family and no friends in sight, and then having to say goodbye to my husband all in less than 6 months, was a bit shocking to the system. People often ask why I run, in a nut shell, its my daily therapy session, my solitude, and my sanity! Anyhow, after Jason returned home from deployment I decided to jump in full force with both feet. The time came and I finally made it to the week of my final exam. I knew that once I got through that last exam (as long as I passed) the extra weight would be lifted and that for the first time, I would be able to take some time to simply focus on running and finding the strength I will need in order to face my biggest running challenge head on. Needless to say, acquiring an injury when you are less than 2 months away from trying to reach one of your lifelong goals isn’t exactly ideal. I know that things like this are bound to happen and believe me, I am extremely grateful that my sprain wasn’t as bad as I originally thought.

I have spent that past several days completely pampering my foot (RICE treatment at its best) in hopes of being able to hit the ground running this week. I did some extra reading, took the time to reevaluate my goals, and ultimately ended up rewriting my training schedule.

In 58 days Jason and I will be standing at the first leg of our 40 mile excursion!!! I don’t even know how to describe the emotions that are surging through me; excited, scared, anxious, nervous, impatient, positive, uncertain, and worried to name a few. Will I be able to run a half marathon on day one and then turn around and run a full marathon on day two? This will be my first full marathon after all!! Am I really prepared to take on this challenge? Uhm...first 26.2 challenge EVER!! Luckily, I have something or rather someone who is keeping me steady during all of this. My husband has a lot of faith in me. He believes that I can do the impossible. He literally makes me feel like I can tackle the world and accomplish anything I set out to do. So, I might not have all of the answers to the millions of questions swirling in my head and I might not be able to ease the doubts that fill my mind but I do have HIM by my side and there isn’t anyone in this world who I would want standing next to me on race day than My Jay!!!

I probably shouldn’t have opened the link in my email but I did. What can I say, I’m a complete glutton for punishment!!! The course maps for the 2012 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend have been released!! I was hoping to share the Goofy Challenge course map on here but unfortunately I can't get the pictures to open.


If you'd like to take a peek at the the journey that Jason and I will embark upon together in January you can click here.


On Saturday January 7th, we will run the half marathon course that begins at Epcot, loops through the Magic Kingdom, and then winds back down finishing at Epcot.


On Sunday January 8th, we will run the 26.2 mile course that will lead us through all 4 Disney Parks!!!

So, 

here is to a new week with a fresh start 

and hopefully no more injuries!!