THE OTHER DAY I WAS RUNNING ON THE TREADMILL IN SHORTS--SOMETHING I RARELY DO-- AND I LOOKED DOWN AND SAW SOMETHING DISHEARTENING...

MY LEGS HAD A JIGGLE TO THEM.

SEE, I TOO AM A WOMAN THAT IS SELF CONSCIENCE ABOUT MY BODY. THOUGHTS BEGAN TO FLOOD MY MIND: 
RUN FASTER
WORK HARDER
EAT BETTER
DO ALL OF THIS TO CHANGE WHAT I SEE WHILE LOOKING DOWN ON THE TREADMILL. 

OKAY MEGAN^STOP, YOU HAVE TO CHANGE YOUR THINKING! 


THIS BODY MAY NOT BE PERFECT BUT IT HAS GROWN TWO BABIES. THESE LEGS MIGHT JIGGLE, BUT THEY CARRY YOU MILES & MILES EACH WEEK. THESE ARMS MIGHT NOT LOOKED DEFINED, BUT THEY ARE STRONG BECAUSE THEY CARRY YOUR BABIES INTO THE WEE HOURS OF THE NIGHT. THIS STOMACH AND THIGHS MIGHT BE COVERED IN STRETCH MARKS, BUT THEY WERE STRETCHED MAKING ALIVIA AND GRAYSON AND THEY ARE WORTH EVERY PURPLE LINE... YOU HAVE TO RESPECT YOUR BODY. 


WHEREVER YOU ARE TODAY; MUSCLES, JIGGLY PARTS, STRETCH MARKS, BIG BOOTY... EMBRACE IT, WORK HARD TOWARDS YOUR GOALS, AND CELEBRATE WHEN YOU ACHIEVE THEM.

 
MY GOAL IN AUGUST WAS TO RUN 139 MILES AND I ENDED UP RUNNING 139.6 MILES. 
{BELIEVE ME, THAT .6 REALLY MATTERS RIGHT NOW BECAUSE I AM BEHIND IN MY MILEAGE GOAL FOR THE YEAR.}

MARATHON TRAINING STARTED THIS MONTH SO MY MILEAGE STARTED PICKING UP NATURALLY BECAUSE OF LONG RUNS ON THE WEEKENDS. EACH MONTH I WILL TAKE A PICTURE OF MY FINAL MONTHLY RUNNING CALENDER AND YOU CAN FIND THE PICTURES HERE. THE PENCIL WAS THE ORIGINAL PLAN AND THE PINK MARKER IS WHAT I ACTUALLY RAN. 

MY FIRST LONG DISTANCE MARATHON TRAINING RUN WAS 8 MILES AND IT WAS ON AUGUST 4TH. IT WAS A HOT AND HUMID MORNING AND I REMEMBER IT FEELING SO HARD. THE 8 MILES DRUG ON AND MADE FOR A ROUGH START TO MY TRAINING.

MY SHORTEST RUN WAS 2 MILES AND MY LONGEST WAS 15. {WHICH WAS RAN WITH MY SISTER-IN-LAW WHICH MADE FOR A GREAT RUN!}

THIS MONTH WAS RIGHT ON TRACK FOR MY TRAINING AND FOR MY 1,000 MILE PROJECT. 
I AM FEELING REALLY GREAT ABOUT THE MILES I PUT IN FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST. I AM GETTING IT DONE ONE MILE AT A TIME!

HERE IS MY TOTAL MILEAGE:
JANUARY: 25.45 MILES
FEBRUARY: 0
MARCH: 15.2 MILES
APRIL: 50.2 MILES
MAY: 69.1 MILES
JUNE: 86.55 MILES
JULY: 83.4 MILES
AUGUST: 139.6 MILES

TOTAL FOR THE YEAR: 469.5 MILES

ALSO, I HAVE SOMETHING SPECIAL TO OFFER YOU GUYS! THERE IS AN AWESOME 5K HAPPENING NEXT WEEKEND, SEPTEMBER 15TH IN STILLWATER. IT IS CALLED THE CAMPUS TOUR 5K AND IT BEGINS AT THETA POND AT 8:00AM! IF YOU REGISTER BEFORE SEPTEMBER 13TH IT IS $35, BUT BECAUSE I HAVE SUCH AN AWESOME FRIEND, {SASHA} SHE IS GIVING $5 OFF TO ANYONE THAT USES THE DISCOUNT CODE: KNOCKEDUPRUNNER FROM NOW UNTIL NEXT WEDNESDAY! 
JUST HEAD OVER HERE AND SIGN UP TODAY!!
 
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JANUARY FIRST OF 2013 CAME AROUND AND I NEEDED A GOAL.
A GOAL TO GET ME MOVING. 
A GOAL TO PUSH ME. 
A GOAL TO GET MY BODY BACK AFTER BUBBA GRAY ENTERED THIS WORLD. 

YOU SEE, ON JANUARY FIRST I WAS 8 MONTHS PREGNANT WITH GRAYSON. I WAS WORKING HARD ON MAINTAINING THE GOAL OF STAYING ACTIVE AND HEALTHY THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY. RUNNING WAS BECOMING... INTERESTING. I HAD LEFT THE OPEN ROAD BEHIND AND TOOK UP RESIDENCY ON OUR LOCAL YMCA TREADMILL. MY PACE HAD SLOWED TO 10.. NO, 11.. WHO AM I KIDDING... 12 MINUTE MILES ON A GOOD DAY. I KNEW I WAS GOING TO NEED SOME MAJOR MOTIVATION TO KEEP GOING. I WAS STARTING TO GET SHIN SPLINTS EVERY TIME I STARTED TO JOG AND I WAS GETTING ANGRY WITH MY BODY FOR REBELLING AGAINST ME. 

SO I SET A GOAL.

MY GOAL IS TO RUN 1,000 MILES IN THE YEAR OF 2013. 

I KNEW IT WOULD BE A LITTLE INTERESTING THOUGH, BEING THE KNOCKED^UP RUNNER THAT I WAS AT THE TIME. MY DUE DATE WAS FEBRUARY 9TH, AND MY ORIGINAL PLAN WAS TO RUN THROUGH JANUARY AND THEN TAKE THE MONTHS OF FEBRUARY AND MARCH OFF, BUT AROUND JANUARY FIFTEENTH MY BODY WAS SCREAMING AT ME. MY SLOW DUCK WADDLE OF A JOG HAD TURNED INTO A WALK AND THERE WAS NO WAY I WAS GOING TO BE ABLE TO RUN THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE MONTH, SO I CALLED IT QUITS... FOR THE MOST PART.

LONG STORY SHORT, GRAYSON SCOTT DECIDED HE WOULD TAKE HIS SWEET LITTLE TIME AND HE CAME 11 LONG DAYS LATE ON FEBRUARY TWENTIETH AND THE COUNTDOWN TO LACING UP MY RUNNING SHOES BEGAN. I FOUND MYSELF AT IT ONCE AGAIN ON MARCH FOURTEENTH, MY FIRST RUN AS A MOTHER RUNNER OF 2. 

SO, THIS IS HOW THE YEAR HAS GONE:
JANUARY: 25.45 MILES
FEBRUARY: 0
MARCH: 15.2 MILES
APRIL: 50.2 MILES
MAY: 69.1 MILES
JUNE: 86.55 MILES
JULY: 83.4 MILES
AUGUST: ^YOU'LL HAVE TO COME BACK LATER THIS WEEK TO FIND OUT HOW I DID IN AUGUST!!^
TOTAL: 329.9

OBVIOUSLY AS YOU KNOW WE ARE OVER HALF WAY THROUGH THE YEAR, AND AS YOU CAN SEE I AM NOT HALF WAY THREW MY MILES, BUT EACH DAY, WEEK, AND MONTH I KEEP KNOCKING THOSE MILES OFF AND I KNOW MY GOAL WILL BE MET. THANKFULLY MARATHON TRAINING HAS BEGUN AND I AM RACKING UP THE MILES PRETTY EASILY THESE DAYS.

I WILL KEEP YOU POSTED EACH MONTH AS I TRY AND ACCOMPLISH THIS BIG GOAL I HAVE SET FOR MYSELF. i HOPE YOU WILL HANG AROUND AND SEE THE OUTCOME.

 
I WANTED TO START MY NEW BLOG MY SHARING OUR STORY:
SIT BACK & ENJOY.

I GUESS MY STORY BEGAN SEVERAL YEARS AGO. 
IT ALL STARTED WITH AN X-BOYFRIEND AND HIS DESIRE TO RUN A HALF-MARATHON, I DECIDED I WOULD JOIN HIM ALONG IN HIS TRAINING WITH ONE GOAL IN MIND: BEAT HIM. I AM HAPPY TO REPORT THAT I DIDN'T JUST BEAT HIM.. I CRUSHED HIM.
LITTLE DID I KNOW:  ALONG THAT SAME COURSE MY FUTURE HUSBAND WAS RUNNING THAT DAY.

I WAS IN COLLEGE AND WORKING AT THE REC CENTER ON CAMPUS WHEN BRANDON CAME WALKING INTO MY LIFE (AGAIN) AND HE STRUCK UP A CONVERSATION ABOUT THE RECENT RACE WE BOTH HAD JUST RAN. DATES, FIRST KISSES, I LOVE YOUS CAME FAST AND 6 MONTHS LATER WE WERE ENGAGED AND WITHIN THE YEAR WE WERE MARRIED.

JUST OVER A YEAR AFTER WE WERE MARRIED WE SAW TWO LITTLE BLUE LINES AND WE FOUND OUT I WAS PREGNANT. 9 MONTHS, NO EXERCISE, A LOT OF RETAINED WATER, AND 70LBS LATER ALIVIA NICOLE ARMSTRONG WAS BORN ON APRIL 4TH 2011. AFTER HER BIRTH I BECAME A WOMAN ON A MISSION. 

A MISSION TO GET MY BODY BACK.

I HAD SEVERAL GOALS AFTER ALIVIA'S BIRTH, MOST OF THEM REVOLVED AROUND WEIGHT LOSS AND GETTING BACK DOWN TO MY PRE-PREGNANCY WEIGHT. BUT I HAD ONE GOAL THAT SEEMED A LITTLE OUT OF REACH. MY GOAL WAS TO RUN A  MARATHON BEFORE ALIVIA TURNED ONE. 

I STARTED RUNNING 6 WEEKS AFTER WE BROUGHT ALIVIA HOME. I WAS NOT JUST A RUNNER ANYMORE, THAT DAY (MAY SEVENTEENTH 2011) I BECAME A MOTHER-RUNNER. PUSHING THE JOGGING STROLLER FOR THE FIRST TIME FELT LIKE TORTURE. THAT FIRST DAY I "RAN" A MINUTE-WALKED A MINUTE UNTIL I REACHED 2 MILES. THE HARD PART HAD JUST BEGAN...

I TRAINED AND COMPLETED MY FIRST MARATHON ON MARCH FOURTH, 2012. IT TOOK ME 4HOURS AND 38MINUTES TO POUND OUT THOSE 26.2 MILES. THAT DAY ALIVIA TURNED 11 MONTHS OLD, AND MY GOAL WAS ACCOMPLISHED. 

SHORTLY AFTER ALIVIA TURNED ONE, ON FATHER'S DAY WEEKEND BRANDON GOT A GIFT HE WILL NEVER FORGET--ANOTHER PREGNANCY TEST WITH TWO FAINT BLUE LINES. THIS TIME AROUND I WAS DETERMINED TO DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY FOR MY HEALTH AND FOR THE BABY GROWING IN MY BELLY. 

THAT DAY I  BECAME A KNOCKED^UP RUNNER. 

I RAN AND RAN AND RAN THROUGHOUT MY PREGNANCY. MY NORMAL PACE AT FIRST AND TOWARDS THE END IT BECAME MORE OF A QUICK WADDLE ON THE TREADMILL, BUT I RAN UNTIL THE DAY BEFORE OUR LITTLE CHAMP, GRAYSON SCOTT ARMSTRONG WAS BORN ON FEBRUARY TWENTIETH 2013 (11 DAYS LATE, I MIGHT ADD). 

RIGHT NOW I AM BACK ON A MISSION. MISSION TO GET MY BODY BACKX2 AND ON THE QUEST TO FINISH MY SECOND MARATHON BEFORE GMAN TURNS ONE. 

THIS LITTLE SPACE WILL CONTAIN STORIES OF FAITH, LOVE, FAMILY, RUNNING, AND OUR JOURNEY AS A FAMILY OF FOUR LIVING IN A SMALL TOWN IN OKLAHOMA.

PLEASE JOIN US. 
 
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