hello everyone! alli here. I am noticing a huge downhill slope from our blogspot. we need to come back together and unite as ONE! We are in this together, and I am not seeing any hilarious, heartfelt, motivating blogs since... let's see... june 14th. Let's get ourselves together! i have to admit, i need to start running more. i took a little break, becuase i was so full of crap. yes, i was. i was getting tempted into ice cream, and i fell for it. for some reason i feel like i can't run unless i eat right. so i skipped a couple of days, and then tanner and I went to california, and now I just feel like crap. So, on MONDAY i am starting again. I feel soooo much better about myself when I run. It makes me feel strong and confident. I need that again. I have been so stressed out with work that I NEED to go running now emotionally. It really helps me to let everything go. I am excited to start the training again for december. I just can't wait till august 12th, when each of us will be running the same amount. I love you all! i'm glad i have a place i can write and i know each of you actually care.... hopefully. i get motivated by each of you, and i have been so sad that no one has been writing.

CHA CHA CHA CHANGES!

That's right! Since I've been exercising I'm regular as rain... or actually regular as 100 degree weather here in Sac! You all know what a big deal that is for a once every two weeker! I just feel sooo good! For the first time in a really long time I'm becoming friends with my body instead of feeling like it's the enemy. I feel so lucky to have legs (and especially knees) that work; that I have a strong heart and strong lungs. It makes me cry when I think about how long I treated my beautiful, capable body with such disdain, when all it really needed was some positive reinforcement. This marathon training is still so young, but it has changed me so much already. I've thrown out a pair of stilettos, my suppositories... and who knows what's next! The scale or maybe even the diet coke! (okay Rebekah... baby steps!) I have some baby weight to lose, but I have to say that getting on the scale and seeing I've lost a pound pales in comparison to the feeling I get after running.; the feeling I get knowing I'm getting healthier and stronger! I'm winning my war against the scale!

SCARY!!!

I just thought you all might like to see how much pride I am giving up to go out and run in public. I was wondering the other day why there were not very many people, usually no one else, running on the track with me. I realized that if I saw this running towards me I would leave as well. This is how committed I am to this, I run looking like this.

Hello it's me! I was glad to see a few more posts! I just wanted to share some good news with everyone. I have lost 5 pounds in two weeks and I am NOT dieting! Isn't that exciting. I decided to change only two things. One is obviously the excersize. This is something that I have not been consistent with for the last few years. Anyway so I am consistently excersizing and I decided that I was not going to eat anything after I run or after dinner if I don't go running that day. Dinner is the end of the day for eating. Many times I go brush my teeth so I am not so tempted to eat. Those are the only changes. I told myself that I was not on a diet, I don't want to be on a diet. I can still eat whatever I want and I have made that clear to my pysche. I just hate starting a diet and depriving myself and getting so obsessed with what the scale says and then falling off the bandwagon and not being able to get back with it. So I am not on a diet and I don't know if I will ever go on a diet again. I finally feel like I want to be strong and healthy and not just skinny. This is a real change for me. I still obviously want to be thin and I need to lost weight, BUT it really isn't my number one goal right now. I just want to run this marathon and I want to be healthy and proud of my body, hopefully that will result in weight loss. Obviously it is already resulting in that. So last night it was kinda hard because Maddy had a Dr.'s appt. at five o'clock. I brought sandwiches and stuff for the girls and when we got home everyone ate a little of the Teriyaki chicken I had made but it was pretty much bedtime. So I am debating if I should eat the chicken but I knew I wanted to go running soon because it was getting late and I knew that I would not be able to run very well with a big belly full of chicken. So I had like two bites put the kids to bed and went running. When I came home I packed the chicken away in the fridge went upstairs and brushed my teeth because it was no longer time to eat. I got on the scale this morning and five pounds were gone. It is funny, if I make the excersize a priority, which is what I am trying to do, I don't want to eat so much at dinner because I know it is going to be hard for me to run soon after if I am really full. Anyway it seems to be working. Just thought I would share!

'SUP GALS!

hey everyone, this is alli giving a shout out to my favorite people in the world. i chose this color, becuase it looks like the color of my eyes.... a puke color. yes, it's true and you know it. anyways, jess, i saw your message. i look at our blogspot at least once a day, and get excited whenever someone writes something. but then i realized i haven't written anything. First i want to ask about the date change for the marathon. i'm cool with it. it will be wonderful motivation to not eat so much over thanksgiving! i'm trying to get a new running system down since work is ALL day pretty much... and then all those extra hours i put in being on tv as a superstar! haha, jk! so, i am TRYING to motivate myself to wake up early early in the mornings. it has been soo hard. but tanner doesn't think i can do it, so i HAVE to prove him wrong. mondays and tuesdays i can run whenever, but on wednesdays and thursdays i must wake up at 7, which isn't too bad, but on fridays and saturdays i have to wake up at 6. uhg, back to seminary days. gotta love that. anyways, i just wanted to let all of you know how proud i am of ALL of us. we ROCK! everyone i tell about us all running a marathon together, get's so jealous. i think this is going to be more than just a personal goal, this is going to be an incredible journey for us as sisters to accomplish something amazing TOGETHER. What an awesome memory that will stay with us and become more than a memory but a tradition i hope to share with my SISTAS and with our children (and future children) forever. I love you all! i will write more often!

Me vs. Marathon

Hey Sister Friend! Thanks for the motivation! I'm calling the pen right in the middle. It's mine! So running.... If it's not the knees and ankle, it's the blisters I have from wearing some hot, sexy, red shoes for 5 hours on Friday while I worked at the Girls' Camp Fundraiser. I'm such an idiot! Is this nasty or what!

These are the little culprits
And this is their sad Fate!
And so I wonder... Is there ever going to come a day when I will run without pain? I'm not sure... but I will persevere. I will do this thing if it kills me... and it sort of feels like it is trying to do just that!

OK I am waiting for anyone else to blog something already! Is no one else having any thoughts about life or running? Cause I keep checking back to see what everyone is up to and NOTHING! Come on. I don't think this blog has to be soley about running and marathons. I want to know what is going on in my families lives. I think this should be a place where we can talk about crappy days and happy days and funny things and not so funny things. SO here are my questions and I am waiting for responses. Sam......what is going on in your love life? Alli......How many times are you going to be on TV and how can I get in on that action? Melissa..........How is the pregnancy going and what names are you guys thinking about? Mom........When are you coming to visit me and in the meantime who has flirted with you at the desk recently? Joan.......I know your wicked sense of humor and why haven't you been sharing it with us? Becky.......What is aching on you now because I still have a whole list that I would like to compare?Katie.......What are your new plans for doing some travelling and having some interesting experiences (I heard through the grapevine that that was in the works)? Okay that should be enough to get everyone going a little. It is not hard. Sit down choose a pen from up top. I put them up there to inspire you to write something! Pick wichever one you like I will give it you it is yours, and type what you are thinking and share it with us! I know everyone checks back here fairly regularly and hopes that someone posted something new to read and so be that person! Love you guys!

I love to run. This is something that I am slowly discovering as I continue week to week. I am not so sure that it is the running exactly but I sure do love the feeling I get knowing that I am doing something for me by myself. I can do it as fast or as slow as I want and it is time that I take out for myself, alone with my thoughts, any music I want to listen to, and feeling the fresh air in my face. I went running again tonight. I almost didn't make it as we were trying to finish up FHE game night. I was slowly watching the sun go down and starting to panic inside because I knew my daylight was running out on me. So we finished, I quickly threw my running shoes on, ran out the door, sped to the track, stuck my earphones in, turned on my i-pod and started walking. Saturday was quite a dismal preformance and I left feeling quite discouraged and defeated again. I couldn't breath still and my ankle was bothering me and I was barely able to run five minutes. SO SAD! Well I am proud to say that tonight was so much better. I got out there and I felt really good. I took my allergy/asthma medication enough time ahead so that it had it's full effect. I also took an excedrin to dull any of the little pains my body tends to feel as I start running and because Becky said she heard that caffeine may actually help asthma. I also pulled out my last secret weapon. As I pulled into the parking lot and looked out at the track I said a prayer out loud in my car. I asked Heavenly Father to just give my body the strength it needed to continue to run and to give my spirit and mind the determination I needed to complete the running I wanted to do. I felt so good getting out of the car and I knew that whatever I accomplished on the track was everything my body had to give at this time. I walked around the track and really felt energetic. I then started running and I was actually able to run for twelve minutes. I felt so good. I then walked for another five minutes and started running again. I felt really good starting up again but alas my body gave out after another half mile. I had to stop but I didn't feel defeated. I felt like I gave it everything I had and I was proud of myself. So I decided I was going to walk another lap around and then go home. Well I walked another lap and then all of a sudden I decided I wanted to sprint a lap.......so I did! I...sprinted.....a.....lap. Can you believe it? Then I walked around again and started to leave the track and head back to my car and then Beyonce came on, her song "To The Left". I don't what it was about her song but I turned around and looked at the track and I didn't want to leave yet. I felt like I wasn't done quite yet. So I walked back to the track and ran another lap around all the while mouthing the words to the song and pretending I was in the music video. Don't worry there was nobody around. When I got back around I finally felt done and I drove home with the windows down singing at the top of my lungs Kelly Clarkson's "Since You Been Gone". SO I feel great and that is why I say I love to run. I am proud of my body and my spirit. I am glad I have a day off tommorrow when I don't have think about running but I am excited to go again on Wednesday and see what I can do. During my last lap around the track I looked up into the sky as the sun was finally setting, the clouds were orange and pink and black and blue and beautiful. A few raindrops were beginning to fall and I was hot and it felt really good. I said a silent prayer of thanks for giving me the energy I needed tonight. And I honestly felt like Heavenly Father was proud of me. I felt him smiling down watching his daughter take care of the physical body he gave her. I felt that he was really proud of me. I know that taking care of my body is not something I have put top on my priority list the last few years and starting to try and run is driving that point home with every ankle, knee, and hip ache. But I honestly feel close to Heavenly Father when I am out there running and I really think that he is there cheering me on. I don't want to stop. I will not stop.