Why is this picture so small? Anyone. Is it because I copied and pasted it from my e-mail? I'll try again.

Today is Thursday October 21, 2010. I was in charge of Young Women in Excellence last night and it turned out pretty well. We had a great dinner together with the parents and YW Leaders and the Bishopric. Thanks to the Young Women! You are wonderful! I want to extend a challenge to work hard on your personal progress all year so that next year we have a lot of YW who get their medallion! Go E11 YW!

Today I went for my run on my usual course - down the trail and up foothill. About 3 miles. It felt pretty good and I was glad I got it over with. The only thing that really hurts from the marathon is my toenails. They are kinda tender.

My philosophy on excersize needs to be revamped. More marathon like training on a weekly basis so that my body will release the right hormones to more consistently burn fat. So my plan is to run or bike 3 days and strength train 3 days. I need to push myself until it's pretty uncomfortable. Kind of like going up Foothill the entire time. Breathing really hard and pushing past my comfort zone. Today I ran faster instead of my usual "barely jogging" I would speed up and slow down. This was a good way to get my heart rate up for a longer period of time. I don't know that much about strength training. I need Andrea to come to the gym and help me with that.

So what is inspiring me today? The scripture in Ether chapter 12 verse 4. There is hope and through faith that hope will strengthen us. I am so grateful for the help I feel when I pray specifically to overcome my weaknesses.

My weight today is 203. I hope to see 202 tomorrow and I want to be to 200 by Tuesday the stress test day. I keep watching The Biggest Looser and can't imagine how much excersizing they must be doing to loose so many pounds in one week. I have to step it up and keep the inspiration going! I can do it! I just need to stay focused! and track my food intake. The end for today.

Well it has been a busy two weeks or so. I have been tending grandchildren while parents were away and couldn't find one minute to blog so I am going to catch up on life. It's kind of a blur but I was able to maintain while taking care of children. Pretty good considering I usually gain because it seems that everyone needs food all the time. I went to have my stress test done! I was so excited to get it and see how my heart was doing and get the go ahead to schedule the kidney transplant surgery but the wrong test was ordered and they had to reschedule. That was discouraging. I don't know why little things like that get me down, but I knew it would be dissapointing for my sister Liz because the transplant unit is already 6 weeks out for scheduling the surgery and this just puts it further away. So I went home bummed out, but it's ok. I called them to tell them we need to move it up and if they have a cancellation to call but they probably won't so I will go in on the 26th and have my stress test.

My big news is that I ran a half marathon on Saturday in the Pink Series Half Marathon in Park City Utah. It was an amazing an beautiful day! I felt so good for the first few miles. Well I always have a few pains and owies to begin with because of Plantar faceitouse (not the correct spelling) but I got into good jog thanks to Kathy Young for starting out with me. I told her run ahead and we both put our earphones in and she was off like a rabbit. I didn't see her for a long time except when there was a large stretch ahead of me. She did awesome. I knew she would! Way to go Kathy! The view was fantastic and I just kept thanking Heavenly Father for a world full of wonders and delights to make us happy. This was of course before the 6th and 7th mile. At about that point my talking with Heavenly Father became more of a plead for strength and courage. Then I got back into my groove and felt really good until right before mile 11. I started to panic because my knee had a cramp behind it and I wasn't sure if I could continue. I looked at my shadow and I was jogging like Quassimoto. All I can say is I have not done anything quite that hard in a long time. I think childbirth beats it but at least you get a baby. I did finish with my husband by my side keeping me company telling me it was just around the bend ( the finish line) and that I could do it! Wow Thanks hubby! You are so great. I love you and appreciate you so much! Especially since he was so tired because he, Pete, Ben, David, Morgan, and Andrea and some other helpers in the Pink Series Race Organization had been marking the trail for the race all night, in the cold, in the dark! Wow they worked so hard! Thank you so much for such a great experience. Andrea I am so proud of you and are so thankful for all you do! You are awesome and amazing.