Portland's Mustache Dache - Dragging Out the Birthday Celebration

by Jodi

Post-race celebration

My 40th birthday party spanned an entire week culminating with Portland's second annual Mustache Dache 5k race on Saturday, November 15th. The Mustache Dache is "a slightly irreverent 5k" geared toward helping "Movember, the global men's health charity, combat prostate and testicular cancer."

Last year a big group of my friends from Newberg formed the Femmestache Fatales team and participated in the inaugural running of this race.  It was so fun we decided to do it again.  We ended up with a team of about twenty ladies willing to don a fake mustache and brave this super hilly course.

When It All Comes Together - ORCC Champoeg 30K Race Review

by Jodi

On Saturday I ran my first ever 30k (18.6 miles).  We all know what that means...  automatic PR!  Hooray for first time events.

On every level this race felt different than the half marathon I ran a few weeks ago.  I went into the half marathon with very specific time-related goals and a ton of race-day nerves.  The way I raced, my finish time, and the way I felt after the race all reflected too much pressure, not enough fun.  I wanted to change that dynamic for this race.

A week after my half marathon my friend Ruth invited me to run the Champoeg Park Runs and Walks 10k and 30k with her.  The race was only three weeks away and included a distance I have never trained for or raced before.  It also was three loops of a 10k course instead of a bigger point-to-point or out-and-back course.  I was intrigued.

Sole Sister Stories from the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in Portland - Part Two of Two

by Jodi with some help from Kathleen and Kristen

Yesterday we heard from Sky and Courtney.  Today Kathleen and Kristen share their stories with us.  I know you will be blessed.

Kathleen Joffer
Kathleen and I went on a missions trip to Haiti together.  It's amazing how quickly you bond when eight women share one flush toilet and a shower (when the water is working) for an entire week.  Kathleen had the bed across from mine and we giggled, served, worshipped, cried, prayed, and sweat profusely together for seven days.  Kathleen has a HUGE heart and serves quietly and consistently without anyone knowing she's working.  I started calling her my Getter Doner because that's what she does.  She gets things done.  Our friendship has grown sweeter over the past two years since we've been back from Haiti and I think the world of her.  Here's her story.

Kathleen and John on race morning

How six small words can change the way you run a race is beyond me but that is exactly what happened to me Sunday. Here's my 2013 Portland Rock and Roll half marathon story in a nutshell:    I barely beat my time from last year.  The difference was a mere 47 seconds, but I did it!

Sole Sister Stories from the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in Portland - Part One of Two

by Jodi with help from Sky and Courtney

This weekend was the second annual running of the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in Portland. Many of our friends and Sole Sisters participated in the event.  As we circled back post-race to get their stories, we knew we had to share them with you.  It's fascinating to hear from other runners why they run, what motivates them, and celebrate their victories with them.

Sky Stephens

I met Sky almost four years ago and was immediately drawn to her.  Our friendship was formed fast and cemented by walking through some life changing events together.  Sky is smart, funny, efficient, determined and resilient.  She is an amazing mom to her twin toddlers and is growing more and more into the image of Jesus every day.  Sky was born to run and is already impressively fast and smooth in her stride.  Here's her story.

Sky and her twins

After failures, exhaustion from twin toddlers, heart break, and single motherhood, a dear friend invited me on a run longer than I had conquered in about ten years. After we finished, I was so pumped up that I had gone the distance yet still filled with self doubt, fear, and a debilatating lack of faith. I concluded that if I wanted to not just "limp along" through life, but finish strong (live well, make a difference, and please the Lord) -  I had to stop letting life happen to me, and letting external influences toss me like waves in the sea (see James 1:6 about doubt).  I needed to be an active player in my own life. 

Keizer Iris Festival Half Marathon - Guest Post by Amy Bentz

intro by Jodi

This past weekend was full of races:  the Queen of the High Road Half in Wilsonville, the Keizer Iris Festival Half, and the Rock and Roll Half in Portland.  Many of our Sole Sisters ran in these events and came back with inspiring stories too good to not share.  We're going to run their stories over the next few days so you can be encouraged like we are.

Today's post is a guest post from Amy Bentz.  Amy and I have been friends since she was in junior high and I was in high school.  We reconnected a few years ago and I think she's incredible.  Amy is hard working, loving, and SO creative.  She can take anything and transform it into something beautiful.  Amy loves Jesus, her husband, and her kids.  Their family has been walking the road to adoption for almost two years.  We're all waiting with baited breath for their family to finally get their referral number and travel to Africa to meet their children waiting there.  You can learn more about their story and Amy's crafty creations at her blog:  Living a Radical Life.  I'm blessed to know her and call her friend.

Here's her story of her half marathon on Sunday and what made it special, aside from setting a new Personal Record!

Krista's Fantastic Flyers - Girlfriends Half Marathon 2012 Recap

by Jodi

Carissa did a really great job summarizing the Girlfriends Half Marathon in her race recap.  It is always such a gift to train and race with Carissa.  Her friendship and athleticism have propelled me to achieve things I didn't know were possible.  We all need Sole Sisters.

This race was special for me.  Not because of my finish time (which I was thrilled with), but because it was a day to celebrate a friend who left this earth too soon.  I posted my race recap on my personal blog.  You can find it here.

What about you?  Have you run a race in honor of a friend or loved one?  Did it help with your grief?  Would you share with us?

FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS

By Tanya

Thursday I had the pleasure of joining in the “Summer Run and Fun” track workout with three of my very best running sole sisters, as well as many new running friends.

There was a great turn out with a plethora of kids running and playing around the track, while running mamas and even a papa joined in. As I ran alongside my sole sisters, I was filled with so much joy. What a privilege to be around such a great group of people, all encouraging each other and setting a great example of active lifestyles for our kiddos. While I ran, it occurred to me how blessed I am to be in the company of such wonderful women and how important it is to have friends to help and encourage you as you run through life.

As I pondered each sole sister and what gifts they are to me, I found it interesting to note how each of them encourage and inspire me in different ways.

From Fat Girl, To Mother, To Marathon Runner: My Running Story

By Tanya

I have lived most of my life in the imbalance of feeling intelligent and confident about who I am on the inside, but feeling uncomfortable and self-conscious about what is seen on the outside. 

As a child growing up in the 1980’s my diet followed much of the mainstream culture and mainly consisted of fast food, microwave dinners and soda pop. I was a typically active child, but my affinity for sugary treats started to take its toll. I was in third grade when I first remember feeling self-conscious because of my weight. In fourth grade I embraced the “funny fat friend” role and learned to use food as entertainment and comfort. Then in sixth grade unbeknownst to me, a boy in my class taped a “wide load” sign to my rear. I wore the sign throughout the school for half the day before a friend let me off the hook. That day my “fat girl” identity was sealed in my mind.

Fortunately in seventh grade I found a way to get a handle on my weight by moving my body and my soul through dance. For the next six years my body was in constant motion. I spent half of my day dancing at Jefferson High School for the Performing Arts and the other half plus weekends dancing with the Franklin High School dance team. My diet hadn’t changed, but dancing for 4 hours per day made my body toned and muscular. But I wanted to be thin. I constantly compared myself to others. When I looked in the mirror I saw a fat girl looking back. I was terribly self-conscious of my body and uncomfortable in almost anything I wore.

(Im)possible: My Running Story

by Carissa

For fun photo shoot with my mom. Gina Petersen Photography

As a 30 something mother of 3 boys I fell in love with distance running.  Growing up I was never  particularly coordinated.  My quick motor skills are, well, non-existent.  I just never had an identity as an athlete.  But the runner I am now - fast, strong, capable - I didn’t know she was in me.  I wish I would have known sooner that the impossible was in fact possible.

I’ve been a runner of sorts for years, regularly running two or three miles to stay in shape.  Running changed for me the year our third son was born.  I was working hard to get back into shape and lose the extra baby weight.  Tanya, my good friend and fellow sleep-deprived mommy, asked if I wanted to train for a marathon with her.  I gave it some thought and suggested that we choose a half marathon instead.

A beautiful thing about this time in my life was a realization that running let me be an individual.  I had spent the last several years learning how to be a wife.  And then a mother.  As a homeschooling mom, my days were filled with pouring into my family. I was living the exact calling I desired for my life, but along the way I felt like I had lost time to have an identity outside of those roles. Running restored a part of my individuality. Running gave me time to connect with God, spend time with friends, and have time to myself.

Learning to Dream Again: My Running Story

by Jodi

My incredible family all dressed up for a wedding - May 2012

I have always been a tomboy.  My poor mom would send me to school all prim and proper and I’d emerge hours later a bedraggled mess – socks around my ankles, hair in tangles, uniform askew.  I tried to be a lady.  Really I did.  But being the recess tetherball champion carried more clout than being ladylike so my mom resigned herself to mending holey tights and slapping band-aids on perpetually skinned knees.

I was exposed to team sports in 7th grade and athletics became my passion.  I was no super star, but quickly realized that discipline and consistent hard work result in improvement.  I took pride in being part of a team, sharing both the pain of defeat and the glory of victory.  It was as an athlete that I experienced the power of encouragement, embraced the spirit of competition, and learned the strength of endurance.  Pushing myself harder, longer and faster was empowering. 

A large part of my identity through high school, college, and early adulthood was being an athlete.  I met my husband, Curt, on the softball field.  We got engaged on roller blades.  I wore white tennis shoes under my fancy wedding dress.  Yes – really.

what was I thinking?

When Curt started graduate school, we learned to run together.  Those after-dinner hours running the Lake Michigan neighborhood around our apartment were the only concentrated time we had together during the week.  Curt, true to his personality, methodically added mileage over time.  I ran in fits and starts.  Some days I felt like I could run forever so I ran fast and furious.  Other days it was all I could do to make it out of the parking lot without feeling like I might keel over and die.

Our flirtation with running didn’t last.  Curt graduated and we fell headfirst into babies.  They came in rapid-fire succession (1-2-3-4) and my life consisted of diapers, nursing, trips to the park, and years of interrupted sleep.  I tried to get back into some form of regular exercise but motivation was as hard to come by as sleep.  When our youngest daughter was 11 months old, I had an epiphany.  I still thought of myself as an athlete but in reality I was an exhausted, overweight, out-of-shape mom who got winded walking up the stairs.