Greenway, Gratitude, Goals

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While I don't like to ride then run, sometimes it is really good to go out and do something different to mix up my training, routes, mind, and daily routine. This morning I drove down to Knoxville to meet up with a guy I met through high school racing/coaching, Sho Gray, who is the coach at Johnson University and coached one of my good friends now running at UT, Niamh. 

 

We met at Ijams Nature Center at Mead's Quarry. I have been there once on a school trip, but I've never run there. We went out and back two ways on the greenway. It was great to have someone to talk to and learn from and some new places to go! Sho is a great runner himself, record holder for Tennessee in the 100 miles, and he is going to race Leadville in Colorado next month. We had a fun, but I also learned some things that can really help my life and running. Small things, but those are the things that matter. "If you can't take care of yourself at the foundational level, then you can't get better beyond that." After the main part of our run, we ran/explored some cool stuff around the quarry!

  

When I go places, I want to make the most of it, and I actually ended up having a lot more fun on this trip than I even expected! I had an email from Panera for a free soup for all of the rewards members this week, but I sadly am never near one. However I got lucky with this run trip this week! On my way home, I planned to go by Panera and pick up my soup to take home for later, but along a road on the river, there were several cute/cool shops that caught my eye. Finally at the fourth one, I turned into a parking lot, almost instinctively, like I didn't even really mean to until after I did it. I went in a couple coffee shops and looked in a sporting goods store (but didn't look much because I would be too tempted to buy something), and made my last stop in Honey Bee Coffee! This part of town is definitely a place geared for college students: coffee shops with wifi and places to hang out. This one was on the corner of Jones Street, so it was meant to be for me to go. I didn't have to have something fancy, and even though I love my fresh and local coffee, I decided to get a biscotti! It was pistachio, almond, and cranberry. A young girl was working the counter, and it reminded me a lot of me at Gelato Brothers, so I told her about my job! It's good to connect with people even if you don't know them nor may ever see them again. You can always make a difference in someone's day.

Well, after my busy and fun morning around Knoxville, I had to come home, regroup my belongings, and do some planks and stretch. By this time, it was time for me to take Chloe out to go to the bathroom and get some exercise herself. I have sadly not been able to take naps lately, and with getting to bed later and my training schedule increasing, I need them! But Chloe and I had a good walk. It has been so humid lately, but walking at least gets some air flow. After our walk, I fixed a new lunch that I kind of started last week, and I am very excited about it! It's got all kinds of nutritious things in it, and it tastes like the perfect summer treat!

Frozen fruit (today I used strawberries and mango)

Kefir (my newest purchase, pomegranate from Aldi)

dried coconut

cheetah chomps cereal

oats microwaved first with some egg

Mom got her cast off at her appointment today, so while I sat in the sun on the deck, she got to finally lay on her float in the water! She is so happy to be able to freely move a bit more. Still lots of healing to go, but we have progress!

For today's section of the Focus chapter of Daniel Plan, it was about gratitude and attitude. Being thankful makes a huge difference in how your brain works (proven in scans) and how you perceive situations, and therefore how you act in them. Things happen that we cannot control, but how we react is what really matters. The Bible often connects prayer, thankfulness, and a life of peace in God's will in the same scripture passages (Philippians 4:6-7, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). One of the things that stood out to me most in this section was "I will see the outside based on how I am on the inside." Then I also have to start with myself. How do I see myself? It will be most helpful to begin to see myself as God sees me: I am useful for good and worthy of love, health, and a full life of joy! In my attitude, I have to have the right attitude towards setbacks and failures. With the right view on them, they can be more helpful than if I had gone on without making the mistake. We can't only learn what works, but we have to also know what doesn't work. Again, the reaction matters. Something else that connected deep with me is that we often don't change "when we see the light but when we feel the heat." God knows the best ways to get our attention. Finally, goals and purpose. If you are just living life with no real driving force, you won't be moving forward! (Kind of cool, Sho and I even talked about setting specific goals and steps to reach them this morning.) So for each of the five essential parts of the book, faith, food, fitness, focus, and friends, I wrote out 3 goals.

I wish I had known about this earlier, but I got an email this week about "Free Card Fridays" at Hallmark. They've been doing this since April, so I don't know why I am just now finding out. It goes through August, so every Friday, Gold Crown Rewards Members can get a free card from the Hallmark store! They are doing this to promote giving encouragement to others. ****This is already one of my favorite things! I've made several cards this summer and put another one in the mail today. While I may not be able to go to Hallmark very often, I'll do it if I can, and I will always send my own cards! It's the little things that make a big difference to people.

This is another sad, but funny and true comic. Magazines: they're usually filled with fake, unattainable, crazy stuff. I read them for entertainment unless it's something that is information-focused. People or Vogue? Lol.

Super Saturdays

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This winter I added a new season to my sports:  indoor track.  I'd seen a few things about it before, but never considered it.  I thought it was too out-of-my-league and too far away to get to any races.  However, I found out about a new thing in my area led by Knoxville Youth Athletics to get more kids involved in track.  Two qualifying meets were put on by the group and other meets' times were also considered in order to qualify for a "state meet" at ETSU in February.
I looked into it, asked around, and decided to sign up.

The first meet I went to was so exciting!  The atmosphere at Vanderbilt is intense.  The indoor track facility is top-notch, and of course the city is sooo great.  I really had no idea how things would go because I hadn't been training.  I hadn't even run near as much as I thought I might because we had so much snow.  This actually encouraged me a lot to see what I could do on a random, quasi-training schedule during these snow days

I love travel!  It is just so much fun to mix things up.  On the way there the night before, we stopped at a couple of my favorite places:  Salsarita's for dinner and Sweet Frog for dessert.  I gotta have some great fuel the night before a race!  I also did some verse searching in the car, and got so into some that I found that I created a special post about them right there from my phone.

The Holiday Inn we stayed at in Nashville had the best continental breakfast that I have had!  I loaded up!  Fresh fruit--and not the cheap stuff!  Oatmeal, cereal, yogurt, waffles, boiled eggs, soo many toppings--even chocolate chips and cool whip!  Those sweet things and more (like muffins) were great to see, but I stuck with eggs, fruit, oatmeal, and can't forget the coffee!  The mustache cups were my favorite part. Mom and dad had a little more wiggle room since they didn't have to worry about it coming back up later.

 

After the race was over, I had several snapchats from some of my friends who were there and had taken pictures and videos of me!  It made me laugh to see myself, but I love my friends' support.  I was also snapchat famous for 24 hours on their stories.

Vanderbilt's indoor facility is brand new and upscale.  There is a special section for the 100m length and field events off to the side, but the best part is the huge video screen.  I love to watch myself during races so I know where I stand.

I was totally shocked at how this went!  I felt fantastic!  I was worried because I hadn't done any real training and thought it would be so tough to go race pace.  After almost missing the start of the mile (I didn't know where to go to start, and I forgot my number; luckily I was in the 2nd heat), I felt like God had given me wings during that race!  Heck, in both of them I felt like I was flying!  It's a feeling that is hard to explain unless you have had it and you just know.  I ran my fastest mile time (5:10) which is almost as fast as my 1600 PR (5:04) even though the mile is a bit longer.  Between events I tried to stay loose, but I could feel the soreness coming on already.  My body wasn't used to this!  The 2 mile was the same story.  The gun went off and I broke free!  I felt like I was flying again!  My shoe came untied before I made it even halfway, but I kept on keeping on, finishing in another 2 mile PR (10:56), almost to my 3200 PR (10:50).  I even had a kick in these races!  If you don't know me, I do not sprint.  Days when I have a kick are seriously God-given.  I was excited; the day had gone better than I ever had imagined, and I felt great!  I also got to talk with the Vandy coach and talk/run with some friends that I hadn't seen in a long time from several different states including, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida!  This day was one of the best blessings.

After leaving campus, we went to Chili's for dinner and drove through downtown to find a Sweet CeCe's for dessert!  Sweet ending to a sweeter day! 

The times I ran in the Vanderbilt Invitational qualified me for the (unofficial) state meet in February.  As this picture shows, I loved the mustache cups with the interchangable cardboard sleeves so much, I saved a bunch to use for travel.  Race day coffee just tastes different!

 

These races were kind of like the ones at Vanderbilt.  I hadn't had any real training, just running here and there when I could and working with what God gave me.  I actually had fun flying by the seat of my pants for once.  This meet was kind of backwards.  The 2 mile was before the 1 mile, but that turned out to be a blessing.  I went into the 2 mile with the 2nd fastest time, but I actually kind of like that; it gives me a little stronger push from inside.  The girl who was my biggest competition is Taylor Cuneo, who was only a freshman this year, but made HUGE steps (pun intended) toward being a national-scale elite runner this year, running some really fast times at some huge races, including Nike Cross Regionals and Nationals.  I knew she was fast and would be with me the whole time.

It was a great race, and I am so thankful to have had her there with to push me so much!  I'm even more thankful, though, that God gave me the adrenaline to keep me going, not only the same pace through the race, but to get even faster the farther into it I got.  It helps to know that there is someone really fast behind you and a state title on the line, but to have that feeling is something only God can fill you with.  Only a couple strides separated us for about 3/4 of the race, but the last half mile I really kicked it in and pulled away.  Again, I don't have a kick, but those last few (indoor tracks are shorter distances--this one was 283 meters) laps were faster than I think I have ever run a half mile.  And it felt amazing. 

It had always been my dream to win a state championship as an individual (my xc team has won it back-to-back), and I finally got it.  And a new PR of 10:46!  This time also qualified me for New Balance Indoor Nationals, but I didn't get to go.  Downtown New York makes for a much too pricey trip.  I'll take a national #4 time for sure, though!

 

I also ran the mile, but it wasn't as good as my time from Vanderbilt.  I was totally okay with it, though, since the 2 mile was such a success!  I prayed during my run in between races to stay loose, first of all to thank God for how amazing that race was and to pray that whatever happened in the next one was what He wanted.  If I was to have another race like that first one, great, but if not, that's okay, because the 2 mile was more than I had imagined!  I stayed in front with the top girls for the first half mile, but after that, most of them sped up, but I was already going as fast as I could!  Those girls have more quickness than I do, but I love getting out there with them to push me and make me better.

These are your 2015 indoor state champions in the 2 mile!

Luke ran a blazing time, too, and went on to Indoor Nationals a few weeks later.

I was really excited to get to run my cool down around the ETSU campus with the Rizor twins, Jessica and Julia.  Somehow twins in TN running always seem to be fast!  They will be freshmen running for UT next fall.  I had gotten to talk to them a few times during cross country, but didn't know them too well until this day.  We decided to run together after the race, and had a blast!  We talked about running, school, college, snow, friends, food, funny stories, and more, passing the miles quickly and painlessly.  The only thing that took us inside was the lack of time left in the day.

Running is just one of those things that leads you to all kinds of situtaions and relationships that can't be found anywhere else.  I am so thankful to have met all the amazing people that I have through this sport.  We all support each other and stay in touch.  Even on the start line of a huge race (which you have no idea how intense it can be unless you've been there), we can crack jokes and love each other.  It's not like other sports where you have opponents against you; you have competitors with you.  We're all out there for the same goal:  make it across the finish line as fast as you can.

 

Another thing we talked about was how they had always wanted to be in one of those RunnerSpace contests, so I suggested we take a #RaceDaySelfie picture, and lookie there!  There we are!

Thanks to my proud Dad, this picture was on Facebook, and I was getting text messages before I could even get to my bag to change my shoes.

Another thanks to Coach Owens who just-so-happened to be at ETSU and took a few minutes to come by and watch me race!

This was one of the main verses I did a Bible study with on the ride to the race.

I've fallen prey to "desires of the flesh (Ephesians 2:3)" and been discouraged and had a "downcast soul (Psalm 43:5)," but there is one thing that keeps me going--God.  No matter how hopeless I feel, this is the only thing that can keep me from giving up.  There is always reason to "praise Him, my Savior and my God (Psalm 43:5)."

These great times of success are wonderful times to praise Him, too of course!  Whether on the mountaintop or the valley, nothing can compare to the fullness that God can put in your life.

 

OH but things got better!

After grabbing a bite to eat, we rushed home and I cleaned up and threw together an overnight bag to go to Manley Baptist to meet up with my small group for the last worship service of Motown Madness!

After leaving the worship service, we all headed back to Patty's for some snacks and small group!   I was sad that I only got to spend one night with these girls, but we enjoyed it!

A good group picture and a goofy group picture!

Jenna and Julia developed a special bond over the weekend.  They crack me up.

The Sunday morning afterwards, we were all dead.  As Julia said, "The struggle to smile."  Roxanna pulled one off!

No more apathy!  No more not caring about our friends who are lost.  That is something that is truly important!  If a person doesn't have a true relationship with Christ, they are going to hell.  That's a fact.  Forever in flames.  Stop and think about how you would feel if your mom, sister, neighbor, teammate, classmate, best friend, etc will have that eternity.  Does that make you sad?  Then do something!

The Wednesday night after every special weekend, we have a share night.  These are some awesome guys who got up and spoke what God had placed on their hearts to share with us.

 

I was exhausted after this weekend.  A day of racing and a late night of barely sleeping (and on the floor), I was dead.  It was all worth it!  I enjoyed all that Christ filled me with.  Getting to end the weekend with some of my favorite people in the presence of the Lord is such a blessing!

 

 

"Not I, But the Grace of God.."

A few weeks ago, I got a message from my coach saying that our top 5 girls need to be at the Knox News Sentinel between such and such times on that Wednesday for pictures.  "Makenzie needs to be there at 5:45 and wear her shoes and uniform for runner of the year photos."  Well I was totally confused.  This whole thing went right over my head.

  First off, I thought it was that day (Monday), and I could not figure out why I was the only one who needed shoes and a uniform and a specific time either.  So here I was, at home by myself, calling to no avail my parents that would not answer.  I was freaking out because I thought that we had to leave for Knoxville in the next few minutes, but no one was going to be home to leave.  So a few minutes later I went back and very carefully re-read the message from Coach Farmer.  Oh.  "Thank goodness; it's Wednesday, not today," I thought.  "OH MY! WHAT? OH MAN! OH MAN!" was about all the words that would come out.  Yeah, that said runner of the year.  I finally realized that I had been chosen for the PrepXtra Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year by the Knoxville News Sentinel, the main East Tennessee newspaper.

 

I remember being younger, just really getting into running, my dad would show me these guys and girls selected for this, and I would think, "Whoa, that would be the coolest thing!  These people are awesome!"  I never would have thought it would be me.  That's kinda why it took me so long to figure out what was going on when Farmer just flat-out told me.  I have always admired runners who receive awards like this and many others.

 

I knew this season was a blessing; more things happened than I would have ever imagined possible.  Winning a state championship by a very wide margin, for example.

 

God set all these things into action for one purpose, His purpose.  I always pray a lot for God to take my life and use me in whatever ways He sees fit for His glory.  He has presented so many opportunities for our team to be in situations for others to see Him working through us.  "Nothing is impossible with God."  (Luke 1:37)  We worked so hard all season with the goal of a championship on our mind, pushing us forward from race to race.  More importantly than everything, we had faith in God that He would prepare us for whatever we may be challenged with.  Yes, there were painful days, sickness and soreness, defeats in races, and competition within the team.  All of that made us stronger.  I believe that God brought the girls, families, and coaches of our team together to encourage each other to be bold in sharing what we are here for.  We have been given talents by God and for God.  We must "give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for [us] in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:18

 

I cannot find words to say how blessed I am to have this opportunity to share with so many others how God gives so much strength, rewards the faithful, and is just flat-out good and loving.

It's not me; it's Him at work.

 

Like I had said earlier in the season, one of my all-time favorite Bible verses of this season is

1 Corinthians 15:10, "By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect.  No, I worked hard...yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me."

That's why I titled this post with part of that verse.  It just means so much to me and is a daily reminder of why God's word tells us to be humble.  "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰ you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies."  1 Corinthians 6:19-20.  I am not my own.  Another way to  put the verse above (Luke 1:37)--without God, I can do nothing.  “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing."  John 15:5

There is a piece of the article on my school system's Facebook page, and the whole thing is in the Knox News Sentinel.

My coach, Raymond Farmer, was also one of the two selected for Coach of the Year.

 

(The other 4 girls from our team were on the PrepXtra first team.  They got an individual picture taken and placed in the sports section with around 10 other girls from the area.  That Wednesday, I did the same photo and went to the pro photographer for the pictured-above shoot.)