I Can Do All Things....

through CHRIST who strengthens me! - Philippians 4:13

While running with Carrie through Garden of the Gods (you will start noticing me shorten it to just "Garden." Lazy? I dunno =) ) but we started talking about how cool it is that every time we run it we see something different. Its beautiful. Carrie has been suffering with asthma and it was her first day back in 2 weeks, we were both nervous about it but ok if walking was necessary-walking is NOT bad, especially during recovery from being ill, injured or just fatigued. Think about it, walking around the block once while recovering from a cold and being tired is better than sitting on the couch wishing you were out running!
The very first hill-which is also the starting point of the run- is a MONSTER...its hard to describe it but that it is probably the hardest hill of the 3 mile course. I definitely struggle with it, though, praise God, I am able to completely run up it without walking. My lungs do burn pretty bad once we reach the top and keep burning for quite a while but its exhilarating when I look back at the accomplishment! Today when we decided on running Garden I wasn't exactly excited, but we prayed before getting out of the car and God DID give us strength! As we ran up the hill I prayed that God would push me, it burned but He is always our strength in times of need and I praised Him as we went down hill! Its amazing how much running and training compares to this life. God has put us here on this earth for a short time, there are ups and downs, and seasons we go through that but through Christ alone we can get through it, and glorify Him at the same time. I truly pray that God is so glorified by my running and that every one that sees would smell Christ's aroma and the shining light of Him who saved me!

"I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations," -Isaiah 42:6

Take 5 In The Garden!

Today I wasn't feeling 100% so I decided to take today off even though I took yesterday off too. Days off are great and NEEDED! Don't burn yourself out! =)In May we did a race called "Take 5 In The Garden" it was a 5k/5M in Garden of the Gods! For Carrie this was her first race! We did the 5 mile which was nerve racking for both of us because it was in Garden of the Gods-which is a tough run. We thought that while we trained we had the correct course we were running so we would be prepared- it is sooooo much easier to race when you know the course! highly recommend reviewing courses prior to races!-and it ended up being totally different. But it was still very fun, challenging and exhilirating. Especially to see that people from all over the United States came to run through this magnificent park! Carrie ended up having an asthma attack, though God used it for Carrie to be able to encourage other women that were struggling which was awesome! I also had a tough time with my knees, sometimes I get a sharp pain in the back of my knee that hurts tremendously on down-hills-strange huh? But it truly was a blast! Here are some pictures!

Garden of the Gods

When I run through this magnificent place I think mostly of the lyrics to this song.

How great is our God,

sing with me how great is our God,

all can see how great, how great is our God!

Today I ran through Garden of the Gods. It's hard to explain but my runnning friend Carrie, at whose house Danny and I currently reside, and I explain this run as "relaxing"! Weird huh? Since reviews of Garden of the God runs call it "strenuous" because of its many hills-that in fact become our friends =) especially since reading the article on runnersworld.com about how to love hills. Its definitely all in the form, read the article titled Hill Running Form here's the web address-http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-263-264-12863-0,00.html

Anyways, this is the most beautiful run ever! God's amazing creation displayed for all to see! I always ask myself when running here how I could ever be chosen by such an amazing God who created this spectacular place without sweat?? He loves me and chose me from the foundations of the earth to be HIS!! Praise HIM!!! God is so good and I am so thankful for this amazing place to live, run, and glorify Him!!! Here are some pictures from today's run!! Oh and it's about 3 miles around the Garden on the path I went today, it is paved road and sometimes it does hurt my knees but not today thank You Lord!

To Starbucks with Spike

Today's Bible verse that has encouraged me is my header verse.

Hebrews 12:1-"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us."

This verse is so encouraging in my life and running. Christ calls us to run with endurance- we are to keep on going as long as He has us here to run to His glory, live to His glory and be witnesses of Him! I pray that He is my strength today!

I think I am going to run to Starbucks. This run is 5 miles round trip and has an awesome little break half way through. It's definitely not the most beautiful run because its just along the side walk by my house and past cars and buildings but I can, however, bring Spike on this one because the sidewalk is a good width most of the way so I won't trip over him. My favorite part and the part that makes up for the not-so-beautiful part is that I get to stop at Starbucks for a Passion Tea Lemonade with sweetener =) Pray! See you later! Oh and here is a picture of Spike.

From about 6 months ago. Obviously...there's snow..

Warrior Dash 2010

About 6 months ago we heard about this crazy race called The Warrior Dash. It had never been in Colorado before and so we looked it up! Only to find out that this was the first year for it. It looked so fun and crazy. They explained that there were about 12 different obstacles over 3.27 miles, including, car wreckage climb, hay bale climb, tire run, rope climb, uphill mountain run, mud pit (see below), net climb, tunnels, river crossing, wall jumping and 2 fire jumps. I think I got them all. Anyways the moment Danny heard about it he wanted to do it! We signed up and told a few other people about it. Nathan decided to sign up too. So we arrived up in Copper Mountain (about 2 hours and 15 minutes away) at 8:30am because I had told them me and Danny's heat started at 11:30...oops....when we picked up our packets (which included a sweet shirt, viking hat, our timing chip and our number) it said our heat didn't start until 1:30pm. It was OK though there were lots of things to do and people to watch. LOTS of funny costumes. So when 12:45 came around we found out that they don't really care/check your actual time you go so we decided to race with Nathan at 1:00. I was so nervous when we were at the start line which is nothing new, so I prayed and God calmed the storm inside me! As the whistle blew and we took off, of course Danny and Nathan blew past me-Danny is so very competitive, It was so fun. I REALLY struggled with the running up the mountain thing, it did end up being switch-backs up the mountain but it was also a lot higher in elevation than I am used to, God definitely humbled me because I did end up walking most of the uphill and was kicking myself the whole time-another thing I struggle with sometimes-pride. But after the cars, rope, hay and mountain you run downhill for a good mile-its such a beautiful place- we got to a water stop and then the mud pit,there was a crowd of people watching and rooting for everyone to dive in- I truly can't even remember what I did, all I remember is people shouting and the taste of the mud. It surprised me, I thought it would taste bad but it really didn't taste like anything! After the mud pit you run up a little hill-feeling very heavy-and go through the tunnels, net climb-which another thing to know about me I am terrified of heights if I don't have a railing so the net climb was......SCARY. Then the river run, and the fire jump-which was also scary the fire was up to my waist. The the finish, I was shocked when I was greeted at the finish line by Danny and Nathan and hardly recognized them! They must have been part of the group that got cheered enough to go completely under the mud....seriously like an inch thick of mud on them. We then paid $5 to take showers and walked around enjoying Copper. We will most definitely be doing it next year and will be bringing lots more people!

In Him,

Lauren

A New Blog!

I am very excited to start this blog! Though I am not sure where to start…. Hmmmm, well I am Lauren, I am 23 years old and live in Colorado Springs, Colorado with my wonderfuly sweet husband Danny and our 2 cats, Molly & Murphy, and our boxer dog Spike. We have lived in Colorado for 3 years now. We started off in Orange County, California-where we were born and raised. When we met at church 41/2 years ago now- we knew we would be getting married. We moved here to Colorado right after we got married-much cheaper and Danny’s family is out here. Though I miss my mom and dad terribly, we are blessed to get to see them often. We originally moved to Castle Rock, about 35 minutes north of Colorado Springs but when the Pastor and his wife and kids moved to the Springs from California to start Reverence Bible Church (www.reverencechurch-cs.org) we prayed and God led us down here to be able to be a part of His church.
So now you know a little about me, but the whole reason I am starting this blog is very exciting!! I have never liked running. (I know, a weird place to start) In high school I always found a way out of running “The Mile”. But God did some huge things in my heart after getting married and needing something of my own. I realized that I was always enjoying going to Danny’s soccer games, and thinking why do I just stay at home and wait while he is at the gym? I was inspired by some ladies at the place I was working in Castle Rock. One of them kept saying she looooves to run, and that she has a training schedule and is going to run a race. Now, in my mind I kept saying “Hmmm thats great for you!” and “Yeah I could never do that.” But after much praying and thinking and encouragement from them I decided to try to run. Though I had it all wrong at first tryong to run as hard as I could, I kinda liked it. And at first my intentions were all wrong-they were to look better and to get attention. SO i went onto www.runnersworld.com and was definitely overwhelmed by how much information was there. One of the ladies had told me to go to the personal trainer and type in my stats, I did and thats where it all began. Iprayed that God would be glorified by my running and that He would be my strenght ,endurance and joy. He has blessed it so much! Last September was my first half-marathon!! I did it in 2 hours 45 minutes and 31 seconds it was up in Boulder and I went with a bunch of friends. I was so excited! Since then my knees have been bothering me a bit but I also finished a 10 mile race, can’t remember my time but iI remember it was 10 minute 1 second per mile. Anyways I really have this vision for this blog that it would encourage other Christian runners or non-runners closer to our amazing, merciful, gracious God!!!
In Christ,
Lauren