Inspired by the Impossible...

Has anyone seen Spring lately? Maybe some parts of the country are enjoying family time outdoors, visiting zoos and parks, or baseball games that do not require athletes and spectators to wear double layers.  Or, maybe outdoor exercisers are more alert bright and early for their morning run, bike, or walk.  In fact, I’ve heard it’s easier to get up during warmer weather and I certainly believe that phrase!  This winterish, Spring has made training more difficult for many of us in the Midwest. It makes it difficult to get up early and difficult to simply train outside! The past couple weeks Spring has come and gone and when she’s here, it simply rains or even storms.  I’d grab a few buddies and we plan outdoor workouts, only to find ourselves frustrated with Mother Nature.  The Doppler will show no rain or storm clouds over our running route, so we would get up at 5:30am and try to out-run the predicted storm.   We find ourselves ...

It’s supposed to be a day of joy and triumph.  For some, the sight of finishing a worldly, renowned qualifying marathon was a dream within reach.  But, the feeling and emotion of accomplishing a life-long goal was halted or interrupted at the blink of an eye.  I couldn’t imagine these emotions flowing through the many athletes and runners of the Boston Marathon nor could I imagine the other side.  Family/friends on the sidelines roaring in excitement as they were witnessing their loved ones approaching when suddenly their souls are startled by a violent noise with thick, powdered dust impairing their vision of witnessing the joy of their loved one crossing the finish.  As you know, qualifying takes months and sometimes years of training for the line up.  However, evil showed up at the right time and place for hundreds of those affected by the tragic blast. To be honest, this will not stop us from achieving our goals and following our dreams....

What is so fascinating about humans is that we are constantly coming up with new, better ideas.  Take technology for example, the touch screen monitors or apps on phones that supposedly makes life efficient and easier.  It seems that new fitness ideas are changing every day as well.  Some may be trying the new diets – paleo or gluten-free.  There are also new exercise methods – Crossfit, Bar Method, spinning that may give us tone. You could just skip the hard work and go straight for new beauty products – Clarisonic, anti-aging creams, Botox that may clear our skin or reduce wrinkles?  Perhaps we are curious or simply want to test the effectiveness on ourselves.   In fact, trying out new things adds change and possibly gives us the extra drive for motivation or energy.  I think most of us can admit that swimming, biking, and running 3 times a week for each sport, can lead to burnouts.  I mean, how do we do this for 9 mo...

The title, “Inspired by the Impossible,” may have some wondering how I came up with that or some may have thought about the significance behind the name.  I find it ironic…especially on this beautiful Resurrection or as viewed by the world, Easter Day. A beautiful cross made by my daddy, from an old dogwood tree on my grandparents' farm - symbolizing Christ at the center of our marriage.  Around November, I was brainstorming ways to keep myself motivated for the upcoming Ironman event.  Two ideas instantly popped in my head.  One, this would give me a chance to write a blog and share my experience and two I can turn my participation into a charity cause.  It took a couple months to define my title after speaking with family and friends.  I knew I wanted something inspiring so one Sunday morning I thought, “Inspired by the impossible” to represent not only my personality but I wanted it to be something for everyone that may think so...

For a girl who usually refuses to buy pink running shoes or pink anything, the new ALL ridiculously pink running shoes will somehow have to work.  In fact, when trying them out at the running store, I tried to make other shoes work and kept coming back to these.  Blue is my favorite color so the blue and green color palette typically attracts my eyes, but I don’t mind bright colors, so bright pink is an exception.  Well, welcome to my running shoe rack Miss Saucony Mirage 3.  Hopefully, the others won’t pick on you and you will brighten my days. Every time I get fitted for a pair of running shoes it brings back memories of my daddy taking me to get fitted for shoes when I was a little girl.  We would always hit the local Swag store in Louisville.  My very first pair of running shoes were Asics and if they weren’t stolen at a track meet, then I’d still have them on my rack.  As you may know, shoes are like tires on a car…th...