My Testimony

Hello Beautiful people,

I hope everyone is enjoying their Friday! Today I wanted to take some time and discuss how I came to my faith. In high school my friends would always share their testimony on how they found Jesus. I was always too scared because I felt like my testimony was not “profound” enough.  I finally learned that as long as you found Jesus that is profound enough. Well here is my testimony and I hope you enjoy it!

Have a blessed weekend!

Jamie

Night Runner

Happy Monday!

I hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful and rainy day! On my last post I discussed generic running safety, but today I am going to be discussing night-time running safety!

1. The most important thing to remember is to wear bright and/or reflective clothing. When I am driving around after dark it amazes me how many people are walking and running in all black! I understand black is a popular color for running tights and quarter zips, but it’s not safe.

My suggestion is to wear bright colored clothing. I know for a fact that Under Armour and Nike make very cute neon running apparel. They are bright and it makes it easier for you to be seen.

2. I would also suggest wearing some type of reflective garment. The handy thing about reflective is that they are on most running apparel. Most of the time they are on running shoes, quarter zips and some tights. But your best bet is to wear an arm band with a reflective strip. Wearing this allows cars to see where you are running.

3. The most important tip, though, is running in well lit areas. Especially at night, make sure you are running on public streets, neighborhood sidewalks or anywhere there are street lights. But in general, just use your best judgment!

The Bible verse that I chose today is Psalm 3:5 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding”. I have had to make a lot of career changing choices recently due to college class enrollment and it has been stressing me out. It has nothing to do with working out, but it is always helpful to remember he is always there and looking out for you.

Have a blessed rest of your week,

Jamie

Safely yours

Hello!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend. I want to talk about some running safety tips. There are many important tips but here are two important tips:

1.     I know I have already mentioned it, but make sure you run with a buddy. There have been numerous accounts of people being abducted while running alone. It doesn’t even matter if it is in the early morning, middle of the day, or late at night, you should always run with a buddy. I am very guilty at running alone, but I am working on it. If you insist on running alone just make sure you run in broad daylight on open streets.

2.     I have a very hard time doing this, but don’t run with headphones in. The danger of running with headphones is that you aren’t aware of your surroundings. When running with music you are unaware of the honking, the jibber-jabber, and the pain. If you aren’t aware of honking, you could possibly cross the street and not be aware of a car coming towards you.  Also by not hearing people, you could become startled when people are behind you. Most importantly you could miss hearing your friends say hello as they drive past.

Safety may be annoying at times, but remember it can be life-saving.

The bible verse that I chose this week is 2 Corinthians 4:9: “We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.” It has been a very difficult few weeks for me. I have been through failure, disappointment and sadness. Sadly at times I felt like I had nothing left. But God is always there to pick us up no matter what situation we encounter.

Have a blessed day,

Jamie

Exercising Is All Fun and Games

Hello Beautiful People,

Running, I have to admit, is sometimes boring. Exercising at times is boring, too, if you don’t spice it up! I have the perfect cure for the “workout blues”. They are simply fun little things called games.

I was thinking about this issue while on a run the other day. I then thought back to my old cross country days and when we would sometimes play games as a substitute for a speed workout. These two were my favorite games:

1. Toilet Tag: This essentially is a glorified “freeze tag”. In this game one or more people are “it”.  (The actual number depends on the number of people playing tag.) People run around trying to avoid the taggers. If a person gets tagged he or she must get down on one knee with their hand out flat almost like a flush function on a toilet.

To get back in the game, another person who is not “it” must come by and “flush” the person. This can be repeated however long you want. The trick to this game is to constantly stay moving, even if no one is chasing you.

2. Ultimate Frisbee: This was probably the most popular game on my cross-country team. Basically it is almost like football but with a Frisbee. You split up into teams and then each team decides on a place for your “goals”. Each side alternates trying to get points. It is a good sprinting workout because while waiting to catch the Frisbee you must run around in order to find an open spot to receive the catch.

Normally people play until one side gets three “goals” and wins. The beauty of this game is the more people playing the better! This game can be played as many times as you want and it is a good bonding experience.

The only draw back of playing games is finding enough people to make the games fun. My suggestion as a college student is to grab your frat brothers, your sorority sisters or even people on your floor for a night of fun and exercise.

One of the many good things about being a Christian is having fellowship with fellow believers. “We who had sweet fellowship together, Walked in the house of God in the throng” Psalm 55:14. Fellowship can be worshiping together, hanging out or simply playing a game on the union lawn. Make time for fellowship with fellow believers who have Jesus in their hearts.

Have a blessed weekend!

Jamie

Cross Training

Greetings,

            I hope everyone is enjoying a beautiful week. I was thinking about workouts today and how sometimes running gets old. If you are ever bored or injured it is a good idea to “cross train”. Cross training is just doing some alternative exercises that work other muscles while at the same time keeping muscles in shape.

There are many things that you can do to cross train. My top two favorite cross training activities are biking and swimming.

Biking is my favorite cross training activity. Biking can be done two ways.  You can either ride on a real bike on a beautiful trail or go to the gym and use a stationary bike.

If you want to go on an actual bike ride, plan do about double your usual running distance or more to get a good workout. You can experiment with hills, speed, and trail conditions and even just a new environment.

If you want to do a workout on a stationary bike, the options are endless. You can experiment with resistance, time and speed. The possibilities are endless. Just remember to keep your heart rate up and get a good workout.

If you cross training by swimming, your workout depends on your comfort level in the water. When I swim for cross training, I usually start by swimming three laps down and back in the pool. Then I take a few quick breather and “run” down and back four times. I then repeat this workout and end it with a casual swim to cool down. This workout may seem short but trust me it takes effort.

Sometimes working out makes you sore and want to quit. Just remember that the more you work out the more you will love it and crave it. Just like Jesus. Keep Jesus in your life. Even if it is just a few minutes a day, take a few minutes and thank him for everything. Psalm 106:1,“Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever”.

Have a wonderful week,

Jamie

Shunga Trail

Salutations,

            Kansas sure has been blessing us with some beautiful yet confusing weather. Some days it is cold and rainy and others it is sunny and beautiful. No matter what the weather it is always a beautiful day for a run!

I recently got a request from a fellow blogger to discuss different running trails and routes around the lovely city of Topeka.

I haven’t explored much of Topeka for trails but the trail that I have explored is the “Shunga Trail”.

I adore the “Shunga Trail” for several reasons…

1     1. It is close to the Washburn campus. One habit that people frequently get into is driving somewhere to run. In some situations, it is necessary but I absolutely love doing something that is close by and absolutely free.

With a trail so close you can either do an easy warm up jog or walk on your way to the trail. Once you get to the trail you can stretch and begin your relaxing trail run.

2  2. It is aesthetically appealing. Some running trails may be “run down”, covered in trash and just down right ugly. The “Shunga Trail” is just the opposite.  It is cute, quaint and goes through a little park.  One can’t help but relax while they run on this trail.

3  3.  It shows you how far you have run. Some running trails might have mile markers placed on the side. One unique trait of this trail is that there are red stripes painted on the trail. The red stripes indicate a fourth of a mile. For example, if a runner passes four red stripes, they have run a mile.

One important thing to always remember while running is being safe.  Running in groups of two or more is safer than running solo.  

At times it may be inconvenient but it is crucial.  Some people may not be social runners but if you run on a trail it is always in your best interest to run with a buddy or two. Having a buddy will even make the run more exciting.

Running with a buddy is important. But even if you can’t find someone to run with just remember that Jesus is always with you. The Bible states “Be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of age” Matthew 28:20. God is always there for you, no matter if you are on a run, at the grocery store, or even in class. He is and will always be there with you until the end of time.

God Bless!

Jamie

Running Brands

Hello World,

I hope everyone had a blessed week. I know the weather hasn’t been very fall-ish but trust me it will happen soon.

As I said in my last post, I am going to be talking about certain running apparel that I enjoy the most.  I hope these brands are helpful.

First off I’ll start with leggings. I have many favorite leggings and enjoy using all of them very much. But my favorite brand is Under Armour. I have had small and skinny legs my whole entire life, so finding leggings that actually fit tight to my legs has been difficult. 

Under Armour leggings fit the bill.  The “Woman’s UA Perfect Rave Legging” work wonderfully. This pair is wonderful because instead of just having an inseam down both sides it also has a seam that goes behind the knees which makes it tight. The link is http://bit.ly/1bphtq0.

Next are gloves. Using gloves is very subjective based on the runner. But my favorite brand is Nike. Nike makes many types of gloves but my favorite pair is called “Nike Lightweight Tech”. 

I like this pair because they are lightweight, colorful and even have a place to put my key. I love these gloves so much I even have two pairs. These gloves run about $20 and are totally worth the money. If you are interested, the link is http://swoo.sh/1638P21.

Ear warmers are one of the most important things to wear in the cold winter months. I have tried just “ear muffs” but they always seemed to fall off. My favorite ear warmers are “TNF Standard Issue Ear Gear”.  

This ear warmer is essentially an item that is worn as a headband but is larger to cover your ears. It is made of a thin material but keeps your head warm and dry. It runs about $20 and comes in a variety of colors. I would highly recommend this product and you should defiantly check out the product at http://bit.ly/1hP5CDi.

There are many other products that should be mentioned as some of my favorites but I’ll leave the exploring up to you.   Take some time and stroll through your favorite sport’s apparel store.  Try on several styles and decide what works best for you.  I hope some of my favorites will soon be some of your favorites also.

This week has been difficult for me personally but Jesus has gotten me through. This week’s Bible verse is Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

This verse didn’t correlate to running in my own mind but instead to real life. One thing I have learned in college is that sometimes things don’t go as planned. When that happens one must have faith that Jesus has a plan and it will prevail in the end.

Have a blessed week!

Jamie