Category Archives: motivation

Race Results

Posted by swandiveorbellyflop in goals, motivation, quotes, running, stumbles and tagged with ,

My performance at The Bear Run wasn’t anything special. My warm up was quick and I felt pretty good. The first mile was right on pace, but I was starting to feel tired. Even at the half way point I was still on pace for my goal. Then, I just really fell back and slowed down. When I finished I was about 30 seconds slower than my goal.

I sat down on the curb with a cup of water and took off my shoes. I sat there for a few minutes – a little disappointed but when I thought about I couldn’t expect much more with the amount of training I had been putting in. I realized I really needed to start running more and getting in more miles because I started the race well but didn’t have the endurance to keep it up.

My two options were basically to sit and feel sorry about it or to go run. I put on my shoes and got at it…no reason to wait until tomorrow. While running I started to add up how much I had run in the past week with my haphazard training…only 18 miles…less than 3 miles a day. How could I expect to run a race of 3.1 miles when I wasn’t even averaging about 2 and a half miles a day?

I ran 7 miles that day and resolved to get on a training plan. I had no accountabilty for my exercise. I was way too laxed and easily distracted. When I never wrote down my runs, I didn’t notice the lack of effort and resulting lack of progress.

Not any more! I’m up to 28 miles a week and I’m sticking with a plan, so I won’t have a repeat performance at my next race in June!

“If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you always got!”

Must be a sign…

Posted by swandiveorbellyflop in believing, inspirational, motivation, running and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

This week I’m running a road race with hopes of impressing my old college coach so that he’ll put me back on scholarship next fall when I return to college as I still have two years of eligibility left. I’ve been really excited and confident in myself until this weekend when my head began to fill with doubts.

Today I headed to the local bike path to do a workout, feeling sluggish and slow and down on myself for not training enough and probably getting slower. This kind of an attitude is particulary worrisome because running is approximately 10% physical and 90% mental.

As I was stretching my hamstrings after warming up, I looked down to a patch of clover in the grass and immediately spotted one with the elusive fourth leaf. I plucked the lucky specimen from the ground and gave a small smile. I felt a little pep in my step as I walked to a parking block to stretch my calves. Wouldn’t you know…an angelic orange and brown butterfly landed just to my left and rested peacefully for a good minute.

Normally, I think God talks so quietly that I could never hear him, but I got this message loud and clear. (I always was a visual learner!) It was like he was gently reminding me to believe in myself and be positive. Keep the faith!

God, thank you for this gift. Let me give all my glory to you.

Dream Big – Think Big – Start Small

Posted by swandiveorbellyflop in dreams, goals, inspirational, motivation, quotes, video and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

So I’m a little Twitter Rookie, but I have to say that Twitter is entertaining me a lot better than Facebook these days.  Seriously, Facebook is great for stalking your old classmates and watching feuds play out between your cousin and his ex-girlfriend, but Twitter is at a whole new level for networking and staying up on the latest news in world events or fun pop culture. Follow me on twitter @swandivebellyfl and I’ll follow you back! It’s fun! :)

My best find on Twitter today was Eric Thomas’s new video.  I already dedicated one post to this hip hop preacher, but I find him so impressive, I’m going for post #2 already.  His video series is called T.G.I.M.  Yeah, Thank God It’s Monday.  Now that is a novel thought, especially for this girl who hates a Monday morning alarm clock!  On the other hand, if I’m all about chasing down dreams, I should be escatic for Monday to come.  It’s another opportunity to achieve some new milestones on my journey.

He asks: Do you believe?  Do you believe that one day you are not going to live in the world given to you, but in the world you dream of.  He preaches:  Everybody’s got sight-very few have vision.  He warns:  Dream big.  Think big.  Start Small. 

I love this message, and I am especially glad it came on a Monday to energize me to focus on my dreams throughout this week.  I definitely have faith in where I want to go, and I have to remember that the little plans and small accomplishments of today will lead to the big plans and huge accomplishments of tomorrow!

 

Butterfly Challenge

Posted by swandiveorbellyflop in achievements, art, dreams, inspirational, motivation, quotes and tagged with , , , , , ,

Just like a butterfly, I am growing and changing and finding my true colors in life.  I am growing my wings, so I can fly and soon be on my way.” -Anonymous

 

“Like the butterfly, I have the strength and hope to believe. In time, I will emerge from my cocoon…transformed” -Kirsti A. Dyer

I chose this picture as a challenge for myself since it is very detailed...kind of ambitious for me!

This sketch was very complicated, but following the gridlines helped me keep the picture in perfect proportion.

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I used the lightbox again to transfer my sketch from the newsprint to the good drawing paper.

Progress check! The shading was kind of messy to start out with, so I had to be really careful to clean up all the lines.

The final product - some parts are still a little rough, but I worked up to the last minute before the due date!

 

 

“If you want to fly, you have to flap your own wings!” -Claire Williams

Double Assignment

Posted by swandiveorbellyflop in art, dreams, goals, inspirational, motivation, stumbles, time management and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

My art teacher gave us a double assignment this week! She clearly said we would have ten weeks and ten assignments, but here she goes only Week 2 and already throwing in extra work! Doesn’t she know I have a lot going on? I had to remind myself about time management and skipped my sister’s basketball game (sad face). It was a good decision in the end ’cause this thing took me forever! It doesn’t look hard, but lemme tell ya…

Our assignment was to recreate this grayscale handout in three inch squares on our 18x24 paper.Measuring evernly spaced and parallel lines was no joke - maybe I'm just lacking in my geometry skills, but this took about an hour!

There you have it! Surprisingly, the light shades were the hardest to recreate and keep the shade and tone consistent

My final product with all the shades from light gray to pure black.
If you want to practice your shading and craftsmanship, this is a great activitiy.  Fair warning: it might drive you crazy trying to keep it even!  Tip: keep baby wipes nearby because the charcoal is messy and you will leave fingerprints all over the page!
 

I survived my double assignment week, so remember: whenever an extra task is thrown your way, you can handle it!  Don’t let a little bump throw you off course of achieving your dreams!  I’ll post pictures of my butterfly drawing tomorrow!