Oops!

Well, it has been a while since I updated - so sorry about that.

Not a whole lot to report right now, except that I am currently recovering from a pretty bad head cold that started on MONDAY! Yes, today is Friday and I'm still fairly congested. Decided that since my schedule was pretty forgiving, I would just scratch this week, because next week is the same and I wanted to be fully recovered so I could give it my all.

This weekend is the Oyster Festival at Boone Hall, so I'll be super busy with that - 65,000 lbs of oysters will be loading in tomorrow in the pouring rain and 49-degree weather. Sunday will be chilly and muddy, but should be great weather for oysters and fun!

Next week's schedule:
Monday: 3.5 miles
Tuesday: 2 miles or cross-train
Wednesday: 3.5 miles
Thursday: rest
Friday: 40 min. cross
Saturday: 5 miles

Also, you people aren't doing a very good job of holding me accountable, so please work on that! I was also just given a $100 gift card to Half Moon Outfitters so I can get some new running clothes - anyone have any suggestions for clothes? I wear Champion brand stuff from Target right now. Also, need to get new shoes since I think that might be part of the cause of my shin splints. Suggestions/comments/feedback are welcome and appreciated - let me know you're out there!

XOXO

Habitat for Haiti

This will be a mid-week update, and also a plug for Habitat.

This week has been great! Monday's 3-miler was good - not great. I didn't take my Multivitamin and didn't eat a mid-afternoon snack, so I was sort of dragging on the run. Nevertheless, got through it ok, but had to stop twice (mayyyybe 3 times, I can't remember) to catch my breath. Tuesday, I had a work meeting until about 6:30 and then a phone catch-up date with Gilly to hear all about her NYE trip to the Big Easy. 7:30 rolls around and I still hadn't done my 2 miles/crosstrain, so I made Tuesday a rest day and am doing 2 miles tonight instead. Yesterday's 3-mile run was AWESOME! I made a goal to not stop the entire time, and accomplished that goal! We were forced to stop Broad Street and Calhoun St. both ways, and while it was a welcome break, I did not ASK to stop. Tonight is 2 miles, where I am going to try and do some interval training to build up my endurance and maybe pick up some speed, too. Saturday is 4 miles with a girl I work with. I don't trust myself to do the long runs alone, yet.

Ok, the plug. I'm sure you've all heard about the 7.0 earthquake that hit Haiti on Tuesday. The devastation that resulted is beyond belief. For a nation that is one of the poorest in the world already, a disaster like this is crippling. Also, you're all aware that in 4 months I am going on an 11-day mission trip to Guatemala with Habitat for Humanity. I got an email last night from Habitat with a link to their Disaster Response page. I'm posting that here in case any of you (or people you know, as I'd really like this blog to be spread far and wide) have been thinking of how to get involved, but were not sure what to do. The website doesn't really explain HFHI's mission in Haiti, so if you're interested, I've attached the email I got below:

Dear Jennifer,

Imagine the fear of the earth shaking violently beneath you as you would never have thought possible. Imagine the utter terror of your home crumbling in around you. While the assessments are just beginning, already we know that the 7.0 earthquake that hit Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince Tuesday is a catastrophe of major proportions.

Your support NOW is critically important! The extent of Habitat's ability to help families rebuild their homes and lives after this devastating earthquake will depend on the funds we can raise for the work—and on how quickly those funds are available.

Join us in praying for the best—but preparing for the worst. Please help by making a secure online donation today.

Habitat has worked in Haiti for 26 years — and we will be there for the long term to help families whose homes were lost get back into safe, decent and affordable housing.

Support the victims in Haiti with an emergency online donation.

Thank you for your help during this critical time.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Reckford
Chief Executive Officer
Habitat for Humanity

Please consider donating - after reading about the disaster and seeing pictures I wish I hadn't seen, I can't get it out of my mind. Feel free to pass the link and/or this blog post along to friends and family.



I also wanted to share with you 2 other blogs I was sent yesterday. My friend Boe in ATL has friends of friends who are living and working as missionaries in Haiti and they wrote about their experience on Tuesday here and here. Please check it out and pray for them as they deal with this most challenging path ahead of them.

XOXO

Well, HELLOOOOOO big dollop!

That part of The Holiday is one of the best. For those of you who don't know that movie line by line like me, I'll fill you in. Miles (Jack Black) and Iris (Kate Winslett) are in Blockbuster in LA and Miles has just gone to get coffee/some frothy beverage for them, and he comes back and says "I didn't know if you wanted a big dollop of whipped cream or a little dollop, so I got bo...." and Iris grabs the one with the big dollop and Miles says "Well, HELLOOOOOO big dollop!"

That's what I feel like right now. My sister and I were just musing (big word) about how we are surprised we didn't turn out to be obese children/young adults. With all the ice-cream-for-breakfast overnight trips to Memaw's, cookie-line back-stabbings-with-a-fork (every night, it seemed - not the stabbings, but the cookies), gigantic spoonfuls of chocolate icing for an afternoon snack, it really is a wonder we (I) aren't overweight. And while I have gotten somewhat better at controlling my raging sweet tooth, it is still always lurking around a corner, threatening to throw me completely off track. And you know what? Sometimes I let it.

Example: Friday afternoon/evening was an absolute disaster. A lot of bad news was floating around the airwaves. I had to go pick up a few things for Pookie the invalid, and while I was at the grocery store, I saw some "triple chocolate cookies" that looked just divine. So, I bought them - thinking, "These will be great when I want something sweet, and I won't eat a whole cake." Well, by the time I had gotten out of the store and over to Pookie's, I had eaten 6 cookies. I have absolutely no willpower when its sitting right there in front of me. So, that is my next mission: to resist any and all over-indulgence in temptation, including (but not limited to) chocolate-chip cookies, triple chunk brownies, devil's food cake with butterscotch and butterfinger topping (cough, roomie), cupcakes from down the street at Cupcake, cupcakes from anywhere, candy bars, gloopy squares, chocolate-covered raisins, chocolate-covered cherries, chocolate-covered-anything-of-any-kind, etc.

Whew. Wish me luck. Now, in the world of running. Last week was great! With my calculation error on Tuesday, I ran a total of 10.5 miles, which is 1.5 miles less than I was supposed to run, but still - Rome wasn't built in a day, people. Thursday's and Saturday's runs were great because of a new running buddy! A friend from college heard through my friend Boe that I was just starting to train, and she had been looking to get back into running, so voila! She lives right near my office downtown, so its super convenient, and she has some great routes already mapped through the City! Running through downtown is much better than I thought - we head down quiet streets with little traffic, PLUS, sometimes we have to stop to cross a semi-busy street, and man, does that feel good. Saturday's 4-miler was such a great feeling, even though it was only 36 degrees. I'm still having to stop a few times to catch my breath, but I'm working on that.

Anyway, there you go, you're updated, are you happy?! I kid. This week's schedule, so that you can follow along and keep me accountable is below. Also, check out Mexi's new blog here - say hi and welcome her to the Blog world!

Monday: 3 miles
Tuesday: 2 miles or cross
Wednesday: 3 miles + strength
Thursday: rest
Friday: 30 min. cross
Saturday: 4 miles
Sunday: Stretch/strength

Ciao!

Training begins…and its rough in 40-degree weather!

Well hello, there!

I’m so sorry I’ve left y’all high and dry for the last month. I’m only going to say that I thoroughly enjoyed December and the major events that occurred during it – Mexi’s wedding, Gilly and Co.’s big Christmas party, Christmas and New Years. Oh yeah! And Croft started walking!! That was very exciting for me to get to see, on New Years Day.

Ok, so – Happy New Year! My training for the half marathon, and the one following it 3 weeks later, officially began on Monday, January 4th. I have 16 full weeks until the half marathon in Nashville, which I registered for a few days before the price increase. Boe, my amazing ATL friend, is registering next week. Sad news from Gilly – she will be unable to participate in the half, but is going to join me on the trip and cheer us on! I will miss her on my runs (no, this is not a guilt trip!!).

A while back, Gilly found a training schedule online at Hal Higdon’s website. It looked great, and he’s a professional runner, so we thought this was the best to use. And it is. My friend JAM and I had dinner on Sunday (refer to post “SLACK is spelled J-E-N-N-Y” for more info on this friend) and had a great time. We talked about lots of stuff, but the reason behind our dinner outing was that I wanted to get his advice and help on my training. Of course, I forgot my training schedule, but JAM asked me to send it to him the next day and also to update him weekly with how my runs were going. So not only did he agree to be my running “mentor”, he took my training schedule and expanded it from a 12-week schedule to a 16-week schedule to fit perfectly from now until April 24th. He also pointed me to a great website that lets you map any route you want and shows you the length in tenths of miles. It’s really neat – check it out if you’re just starting like me and have no idea where to run around your area. I have mapped about 5 routes since Monday.

I will post the schedule in the next post, because I can’t figure it out right now. I want everyone to know exactly what I’m doing everyday, so that if, at any given time in the next 16 weeks, anybody (and by anybody, I mean the 10 people who read this blog) can ask me what I did in the way of training that day, I will have to tell them. Because they’ll know what I was supposed to have done and they’ll know if I’ve done it. Because I’m a terrible liar. So, I invite YOU (yes, you!), to keep me on my toes and ask me about my training e.v.e.r.y.d.a.y. I’m going to tell you right now what I’ve done so far, since I don’t have the schedule posted yet. Monday, I did stretch and strengthen. Stretches – easy. Strengthen – easy. The last “strength” exercise was lunges. KILL ME NOW. I am STILL sore and it hurts to stand up and sit down from my chair at work. Tuesday (yesterday) I went for a 2.5 mile run. I was supposed to do 3, but I made an error in calculation. Easily fixed. It was 39-degrees when I started, but I was honestly not that cold. Today I was scheduled for either 2 miles or cross-training. Since I have no bike and my sister/tennis partner is incapacitated right now having had leg surgery 3 weeks ago and her appendix out last night, I chose to compromise and run 1 mile. It was cold.

Tomorrow is 3 miles again. Saturday is 4. I promise promise promise to keep you updated with (at least) weekly updates on my training.

WISH ME LUCK!!

xoxo

Blame it on the holidays

Hello loyal fan-base (ha!),

My sincerest apologies in failing to update the blog on a regular basis like I promised I would. A lot of things have happened since we last met. Most importantly, I have severely reduced the amount of running I have been doing. Now, this doesn't sound like a positive thing to you, I'm sure, what with 2 half-marathons looming in the not-so-distant future. But it is a positive thing. You'll understand in a bit.

My previous post was a little less than a month ago, and I was off to Mexi's bachelorette party the next day. Well, Mexi's big day has arrived! I cannot believe that the world will lose one of its most beloved monograms, LHM, on Saturday. This day has been very long-awaited by many, and I am very excited to be standing up there with one of my very best friends in the world when she marries the man (he's a man?! what?!?) she was created to spend her life with. Tearing up just a little. For as long as they have been together, whenever I have thought of the two of them, the song "A Page Is Turned" by Bebo Norman always comes to mind. I won't put the lyrics to the song here, but I encourage you to look it up and/or have a listen. It's a great song.

Next came Thanksgiving. For those of you who do not know, I had the amazing opportunity to be able to fly another of my very best friends in the world home to Columbia from L.A. for Thanksgiving to surprise her mom. No, I do not have $600 laying around, I won a voucher for a ticket from work and realllllly wanted my little hippie to be able to come home and spend some time with her family (and me, of course!). So, Thanksgiving night, after ridiculous amounts of food and a large cup of coffee, I drove to Charlotte to pick her up and we surprised her mom (her dad was in on it and helped coordinate and keep the secret). The look on her face was absolutely priceless - I have never seen a person be speechless (everyone always says "I'm speechless!" but they clearly aren't, because they just used the power of speech to inform you that they were "speechless"...), but her mom literally stood there with her mouth wide open (sorry Anne!) for a good 60 seconds. It was one of the better moments of my life, being able to make that happen and especially being there to witness it.

Clemson v. South Carolina ended badly for us Clemson fans and alumni. Curly and I sat with my siblings in the USC section and I swore that if I heard the phrase "...must be ACC referees..." one more time, I was going to hurt someone. We all made a "no taunting" pact before the game, so it wasn't terrible. But hey, if we won all the time, it wouldn't be much of a rivalry, now would it? The rest of the weekend was spent soaking up family time and I loved every minute of it!

So, you've probably noticed that not anywhere in this post so far have I mentioned any form of running. You are correct. Hence the title of this post. Call it an excuse if you want, but I would so much rather spend time with great friends and family (and eat!) than run. But don't fret, dear readership. The week after Thanksgiving, I got up at 6:00 am on Tuesday and Thursday and ran 2 miles on the treadmill, in preparation for the 19th Annual Reindeer Run, benefitting the MUSC Children's Hospital. The race was on Saturday morning, and Gilly and I planned to run, and again, because my job is awesome, we got our entry fee waived. So we met there, cold and wet (steady rain and 50 degrees) at 8:45 am for a 9:00 start time that eventually was pushed back until 9:20. Meanwhile, we were all standing at the START line getting soaked to the bone.
Here's the positive side of the fact that I reduced the amount of running I was doing: I had to stop and catch my breath THREE times during the 5k, and I am so embarrassed that my butt will be in the gym (or on the bridge with Gilly) as much as possible in the next few weeks. Below is a picture of my bib. I've decided I'm going to keep the bibs of all the races I do from now until forever. Maybe Mom will make me a quilt out of them? My official chip time was 34:27, which is under what I was shooting for (36:00), but I have a lot of room for improvement.


That about sums up the past month, and I promise to get into a more regular pattern - of both updating the blog and of running. My next post will be about my big trip, which I leave for 5 months from SUNDAY! Cannot believe it!

On a side note, I asked my mom to send me her Christmas list yesterday, and she did. Now, for those of you who might not know, my mom is the kindest, sweetest, most caring person I have ever met. She had a couple things on her list: #3 was a stainless steel toaster, #2 was a cheese grater that holds the cheese (she's also the most adorable person I know!), and #1 was another bead for her charm bracelet and a donation made to a charity. Hmmm, I wonder what I'm getting her??? Think about what's on your Christmas list this year. Of course, there's nothing wrong with asking for things you really want or need (I know I am!), but I wonder what our world would be like if more people put "donation to ______ charity" at the top of their list?

Also, speaking (3 paragraphs ago) of MUSC Children's Hospital, if you haven't already bought Christmas cards, visit the website to check out the Holiday Cards they have available. All the cards are designed and drawn by patients and/or their family members and your money goes to support one of the best children's hospitals in the country. Look out for the card drawn by Rachel Edwards, a personal hero of ours at work and if you're interested, check out her website. Her story will amaze you.

XOXO,
Jenny

Drum Roll Please...

Well, I decided (after some nudging by a few people) to just go ahead and tell all...beware, this might be lengthy, as I feel I should start from the beginning.

A few months ago, I started having these weird feelings like I needed to do something else to further complete my life. I have a good job, I have plenty of friends (granted, they are scattered across the country), and obviously, my family is amazing - but I wasn't doing anything. I contemplated doing a lot of things - from plastic surgery to joining a band to moving across the country. I'm mostly kidding about those things (at least the first two). In the end, thanks to my amazing mom - who would have supported me no matter what I ended up doing, even if it was stealing strangers' kidneys and selling them on the black market - I ended up making a small, but significant choice: I would stay where I was and look for things to fill up some more of my free time.

Enter: Habitat for Humanity, International (HFHI from here on out).

For some reason, no matter where I turned, HFHI kept popping up! Seriously, in a 2-week time span, I probably ended up on their website and/or seeing their logo almost every other day. It was the strangest thing, but I didn't really think anything of it. Then, my mom and I were chatting about my life and she suggested that since my boss(es) at my job are so amazing and my job is currently secure, why didn't I look into taking a little bit of time off for a mission trip. All of a sudden, it hit me - just like when Bella realized Edward was a vampire but she didn't care, that she loved him anyw...oops. I have never had one of those experiences where I felt "the call" from God to do something, so I picked up and did it...until then. It was so obvious that He was trying to tell me that THIS was what I was supposed to do - not join a traveling family band or move to Colorado, but volunteer with Habitat for Humanity.

So, I did. I went, for what felt like the 25th time in a week, to their website and browsed their volunteer opportunities. The first thing that jumped out at me was the "Volunteer Internationally" link - keyword being International. I figured, if I was going to do this, I was going to do it right. Well, the "6 to 12 months" told me, "Hey Jenny, your job and bosses are awesome, but let's pump the brakes a little." Next, I clicked on "Global Village Program" (again, keyword being Global). That link brought up a basic explanation about the program, as well as how to apply, and a snapshot of "Featured trips." Here's where it gets interesting, so don't even think about skipping ahead.

Wouldn't you know that the very second (would have been cooler if it was the first, I know) trip listed was entitled "Run and Build trip to Guatemala!" I could NOT believe it. A half-marathon AND the opportunity to serve others through construction (one of my favorite things ever, thank you Salkehatchie and World Changers!)? All in Guatemala?? You have got to be kidding! The dates, May 13-23, 2010, are absolutely perfect, being just about 3 weeks after the Music City Marathon in Nashville - the original reason for this blog. I tried to contain myself, because I tend to have a bit of an overactive imagination, and can't you just see me spontaneously booking a flight to Guatemala for May 13th? I sent the link to my mom and went about my day. Two days later, I filled out an application online for the Global Village program. It was remniscent of applying for college - see, I ONLY applied to Clemson; likewise, I ONLY applied for the "Run and Build trip to Guatemala." If I hadn't been accepted to Clemson, my entire life would be different today. Do I think my entire life would be different if I didn't get to run and build in Guatemala? Ask me again in June, but with the overwhelming signs I got, I am leaning towards a very emphatic YES.

I got a confirmation email that included my eight-digit Habitat number, or my code name, as I sometimes/never call it. The email gave me contact information for my trip leader and told me to contact him regarding scheduling a phone interview, and also that if I hadn't heard back within one week, to contact HFHI again. I immediately emailed the leader and patiently waited for a response. And waited. And waited. And, oh hey, waited some more. Finally, one day shy of a week of waiting, he called. I let it go to voicemail (I had to play a little hard to get, right?) and called back about 30 minutes later, once I got on the road back to Charleston. We chatted for about 15 minutes and at the end, he said these magical words: "Well, it sounds like you'd be a great addition to our team and we'd love to have you. I'll send you an official email invitation in just a little while." I can't begin to express how that felt. I called my mom immediately, and then sent several text messages (yes mom, while driving with my elbows) to some interested parties. Kidding about the elbows. Five minutes later, I got the email invitation. This was progressing like a dance - sloooow, sloooow, quick, quick, quick.

The next day, I approached my boss with the news, and after she said "As long as you have the vacation time..." I quickly explained that, because I had been VERY hasty and liberal with my vacation days and only had 2 (out of 10) days left even though our days roll over in July, I was willing to take unpaid vacation for this trip. SURPRISE: My "Carryover" leave had 13 days in it! All I need to do is get approval from the big boss to use them, and why would she not approve if its for a mission trip, right? Non-refundable deposit has been paid, flights have been researched, and I'm feeling great! I won't be feeling great if I don't get approval, so I'm trying to get that taken care of as quickly as possible.

So, that's the news. Not to get all here-comes-the-sentimental-music-at-the-end-of-the-sitcom-where-the-lesson-has-finally-been-learned, but I really feel confident that I have made the right decision. If I had moved across the country, chances are I would still feel like something was missing and BONUS, I'd be across the country without anyone to lean on. I have a clear idea of what I'm supposed to be doing, at least for 11 days in May, and I can only pray that God keeps hitting me over the head with things, because I'm not that smart. For an example of why I'm not that smart, read on...

Wednesday night, I went to the gym. I was all excited to plug my headphone (one earbud fell off) into the TV and watch an hour of Family Guy, since we no longer have cable at my house. Knowing that sometimes the cable is messed up on certain machines, I should have taken my iPod in with me. Buuuuut, I didn't. And, SHOCKER, the only treadmill left was one of those without a working TV. So I'm sure my fellow gym-goers got a kick out of the girl on the end running with no headphones and staring at a blank screen for 3.5 miles. Curly showed up and made me laugh when she told me that I looked "lonely" while running. I blame her for the side stitch I couldn't get rid of.

Well, off to Columbia for Mexi's bachelorette party tonight and a full day of cleaning out the playroom to help Mom and Dad prepare for Thanksgiving, and the 3rd bi-annual "Waller Carolina/Clemson Party" the night before the game. Hoping to get a run in Saturday or Sunday morning, and look out for some more exciting things to come in the next few posts (think pictures and rainbows and Christmas, oh my!).

SLACK is spelled J-E-N-N-Y

Hello friends.

I know I've been slacking in the blog area of my life. I've also been slacking in the running area of my life. Last week only got 2 days of running in. Monday night's bridge run with Gilly was PERFECT! Neither of us tired or had to stop running once we started. A cool 3.something-mile run on a beautiful night. Tuesday's run was hard for me for some reason, and I had to stop and walk two separate (albeit short) times. Spoiler alert: excuse coming ahead!

Wednesday night, I had dinner with an old friend - we both skipped our workouts to fit this gathering into our plans. Say what you want, but I am a firm believer that great conversation always beats out good exercise. This particular friend has recently run a marathon, as well as participating in a few triathlons, so I could lie and say I was getting advice from him (which was on the list of topics for the evening), but we didn't quite make it that far. Next time, for sure. We did, however, discuss some other areas of our life and certain changes we both have been making, which is a perfect segue into more info on the surprise!

This friend was talking about a group he's become involved with over the last 2 months or so through his church called Year Team. The basic idea is a group of young people like ourselves who meet once a week (intense 4-hour meeting) and talk about their relationships with God and how to better themselves through Him and how to better serve Him. While he was talking, I was thinking about my own personal life-change and I filled him in on the surprise. Of course, I told him everything, and I am only going to tell y'all a bit more. Needless to say, we were both equally excited for each other's latest adventures, and he did promise to sit down and go over some training schedules with me in the next few weeks.

Ok, one big hint: I'm volunteering my time and services with Habitat for Humanity.

If you are interested in ruining the surprise for yourself, feel free to poke around on their website (www.habitat.org) and see if you can figure it out. I'm bursting to tell you, but just can't yet.

Gilly is sick tonight, so I'll be hitting the gym alone. Promise I won't let another week go by before updating again.

XOXO (that's my new Monday blog post thing)