Learning to Walk Again...

Ok, what we experienced today was priceless! Matt and I had the best time running in the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon, seriously. It was like a running party in the streets with 33,000 other crazy people. And we truly saw some interesting sights. To hit on some of those sights...Elvis Presley several times, People dressed in trashbags, A mom carrying her toddler in a stroller rigged on her back (she was not moving fast), miles of street littered with runner clothes (gloves, sweatshirts, hats, pants), 13 random bands, blocks of sardined port-a-potties with lines of bouncing runners, and too many people in stretchy pants (so Matt says).

It was an incredible accomplishment. We ran 13.1 miles in 2:40 approx. 12min pace, which is faster than we thought we were going to do it. It went by oddly fast and we don't regret it...although our post race bodies are screaming something different and at 6:00 this morning our pre-race bodies were pleading against wearing shorts in 30-40 degree weather.

It was a blast! We are glad we did it!

On another note, I am hurting from the hips down and my knees feel as if they were beaten with a sledge hammer. I groan anytime I have to walk...and I look like a granny in serious need of a walker. Matt on the other hand only complained that his LITTLE toe hurt. Poor guy. I feel so sorry for him. :) I guess it proves that everyone recovers differently.

Let's Rock 'n' Roll

Well, Sunday is the day and 25062 and 25063, is what they will call us. I do think we were assigned the best race numbers ever! I think the hardest part will be finding a place to park and actually getting to the starting line, seriously. Maybe we will map out our attack ahead of time. We are a little nervous and excited too. Might be more excited about getting it over with, so we can do something different besides RUN. I think we are both more of the weightlifting....change up the workouts so you don't get bored...type of people.

This has been a great experience. We have learned a lot and had a blast doing this together.

Wish us a Rock 'n' Roll Run on Sunday!

Tick-Tock...

Time has become a shortage around the Peacock home lately and by the way things are going it doesn't look like we will be gaining any extra minutes to our busy days either. Due to the challenge of finding actual time blocks to go and run for literally hours, we have decided to settle for the San Antonio Half Marathon. We are definitley disappointed that we aren't doing the full, but we truly just don't have the time to train nor do we prefer running after 9:00 at night...it's way to dark!

On the other hand, this has relieved us of some stress. With marathon day approaching and us struggling to get our mileage in we were beginning to feel discouraged at ourselves for not running enough. Now that our race is cut in half our normal runs are cut in half, which leaves us with good, day-lit times to get our runs in. So yeah for cutting the work load in half!

Runner's Slump

The past couple of weeks Matt and I have been battling The Slump. It was awful! We were tired, bored with running, not feeling well, busy, and just unmotivated. I must say we are not big fans of "slumps" of any shape or size. But the good news is I think we are out of it! Yeah! We ran 9 yesterday (which is considered a long run due to our lack of mileage) and felt really great! All I can say is battle battle hard through the "slumps".

A Glimpse of Greatness

Featured above is the lovely PKRC Team that made Summer 2008 probably the greatest ever! I chose the goofy picture to show you all, because that is more consistant with the energy, spirit, and attitude that is required of those visiting Peaceable Kingdom. Seriously all the people in this picture are just absolutely amazing and deserve extra jewels in their crowns!

Training on Hold...

The past couple of our runs I have had some "innard" issues....don't ask please. I promise you don't want the details. Anyways, I went to see my doctor and was referred to a GI Specialist and was told to put my training on hold while things were "looked into".

So, I am totally fine! I just wanted to update those of you dedicated readers on our status (both sets of parents...hehe)

On a more accomplished note: We did knock out our 11 miler this past Sunday. That has been our longest run so far and we learned that those who are WALKING on trails do not care whatsoever that you are approaching them at a faster speed and will not move over to get out of your way...Apparently since we are running we should go around. So the Peacocks had a throwdown in the woods on Sunday...don't worry we did not use our feet, only our hands have the battle wounds. :) Seriously though we almost had a trail pile-up because these ladies did not scoot over and we were running towards them. (If only we had horns to honk).

Ya'll have a great week!

"Drive Gently"

So Matt and I found a great place to run on our long days. It is this park that has miles of hidden trails that wind through the woods and then takes you on this very quiet road...making you feel as if you clicked your ruby red slippers together and ended up in some beautiful county side. Today was our 8 mile run which went by surprisingly fast due to the weather and scenery. One of my favorite things to do is run in the rain and today was the perfect rain to run in. It wasn't too hard and it came in spurts so we got nice cool breaks before the next shower. We also had multiple deer sightings, which is something that will never get old for me.

The funny part of our run comes from the title of this post. On the downhill part of our country road there was this yellow sign that said " Drive Gently". For some reason Matt and I found the randomness and idea of gently driving somewhere very humerous.

Anyways, our route today reminded us of how spectacular our God truly is and how there will always be more sightings of him around every corner whether it's through the cool rain for the gracefullness of a family of deer. He is everywhere!

Run to Cover(s)

Megan and I have ran to a lot of different music over the past months gearing up towards this marathon-exclusive training. After experimenting with lots of songs and playlists, this playlist is our (current) favorite to run to. It is mostly punk versions of pop songs from the 80's and 90's. Because of their up-tempo beat and the sheer fun of the songs, this has been in our ears every mile of the last 5 runs. You can check out the playlist on iTunes and sample some of the songs. Here is the link: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewIMix?id=288524172&s=143441. We are always looking for more music to run to. So, if you have a favorite cover song, a song you like to workout to, or a whole playlist you want to pass a long, we would love to hear it. Thanks for all the encouragement. Oh, and in case you were wondering how fast we are, I would put us somewhere between a mongoose and a snake....and a cheetah.
Runnin' like we stole something,
Matt & Megan

Change of Pace

We have decided to move up our marathon date! Instead of Feb 2009 we will be running in the Rock 'N' Roll San Antonio Marathon on November 16, 2008! Now we are pushing harder into gear...which is a little scary because that puts us starting our hard 16 week training schedule starting July 27th! The 16 week schedule is 16 weeks out from the marathon...we will be running 4 days a week and increasing our mileage not only daily but also our total mileage for the week.

Week 1= 15miles Week5 = 21miles Week9 = 31miles Week13 = 38miles
Week2 = 16miles Week6 = 24miles Week10 = 34miles Week14 = 27miles
Week3 = 17miles Week7 = 26miles Week11 = 35miles Week15 = 19miles
Week4 = 19miles Week8 = 28miles Week12 = 36miles Week16 = 34.2miles

Thanks for your support so far! Keep Peaceable Kingdom in your thoughts as they are on their down hill stretch for the summer!

What's Your Favorite Muscle to Workout?

Right now Matt and I are working on getting our bodies leaner, toner, and building up that cardio stamina. Working out together is something we both look forward to everyday and have been enjoying the experience together. Matt's favorite area to target are the arms, mine are the abs. We can definitley tell that our metablolisms have sped up, because of the sizes of the lunches we pack for work and school. :) All in all our energy levels are up, we feel great and we are pushing each other more and more each day. Do you have a favorite area to focus on?

Smoothies!!!

So our favorite smoothie to drink right now comes out of "The Abs Diet";

Juicy Fruit Juice

1 banana

1/2 c strawberries

1/2 c milk

2 Tbsp low-fat vanilla yogurt

1/3 c orange juice

2 tsp vanilla whey protein powder

3 ice cubes

Give it a try!

The Goal

We have decided to run a marathon together with the obvious goal of crossing the finish line, but more importantly we want to do this to raise awareness! You may already be aware of what we post on this blog, but we want to challenge you to find something that has made a difference in your life and choose to make a difference for it. We have chosen Peaceable Kingdom Retreat for Children to be our focus on raising awareness.Our goal is to share our passion and knowledge of Peaceable Kingdom Retreat for Children along with every step of our experience while we train for the Austin Marathon February 2009. We created this blog to post facts on our focus; PKRC, document our workouts, diet, gear, sources, and anything else we feel we want to share with you.

Check the workout calendar to keep up with our daily training "stats." This is a day by day schedule which you can check everyday to see the progress in our running, ab work, and weight training. Please resist all jokes about our puny muscles! We look forward to sharing this experience with you.

Our hope is to experience making a difference as we try to be exactly like our Savior.

Matt and Megan