2400 Steps!

Oh boy!  What a post this is going to be!  I've registered for The Sunrise Run, my first 5K. http://www.firsttothecross.com/  I still go my usual route near my house and increase the running portion by 10 steps per section per week.  I have about 5 weeks until the race and I was secretly wondering if I would get to the point where I'm running the entire distance and not walking at all right before the race and not really have time to get comfortable at that level.  I asked the race organizer for a map of the route so I could run it now because I don't like surprises.  I like to know what's coming and what I need to do.  She sent it to me, and a friend and I and our children have walked/jogged/rollerbladed it a few times.  The first time, my friend and I warmed up a little, ran 500 steps, walked some, ran 500 steps, walked some, etc. for the length of the course.  Not bad.  Stretching the distance a little for me, but very doable.  The next time we upped it to 600 steps each time we ran.  So far so good. 

Over the weekend I was talking to another friend, the one who challenged me to look into The Lord's Table Bible Study at www.SettingCaptivesFree.com that really jumpstarted my weight loss and through which I allowed God to transform me into a new and different person by changing the way I think (Romans 12:2 in NLT).  He suggested that instead of setting my goal at 500 or 600 steps, I just run until I can't run anymore and see how far I get.  I still needed to count, though, so Monday I suggested to my running friend that since we did 600 steps last week, we go for 1200 this time!  She agreed.  I kept count, calling out every 100 steps, and she kept encouraging us with, "We can do this!  Jesus is the strength in our legs!" and similar phrases.  When we got to 1200 steps we felt like we could continue so we did!  We ended up running 1600 steps that time!  Whew! 

We walked to catch our breath, then decided to go for 1800 steps.  As we hit 1800, neither of us stopped.  She said, "You have 2000 in mind, don't you?!"  I said, "I think I do!"  Then she suggested we run to the bridge we could see in front of us then walk for a while. 



That ended up being 2400 steps!  2400!  A mile is roughly 2000 steps, so we ran for more than a mile without stopping!  We walked a little way then ran to the end of the course, which turned out to be 1250 steps.  Incredible! 

Oh!  And then my daughter and I drove to a park for our fitness class, http://fitnessinfusiononline.com/, and did 45 minutes of that!

Ephesians 3:20 (MSG) - "God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, His Spirit deeply and gently within us."

That was Monday.  Today I was back to my usual route near my house.  I made a goal of running the entire first mile.  I did it!  I walked the next section to monitor my heart rate and to catch my breath, then ran the entire second mile (except for that first section)!  I did the same thing for the third mile. 

I ran the entire 3-mile distance except for two short sections!  I can't wait to get together with my friend again tomorrow and see what God can do with us on the race course!

Possibilities and Responsibilities

Normally I don't run on Sundays because I'm fasting, but I wasn't feeling well so I didn't fast today.  I was feeling better by this evening, so I decided to do my run (Notice I don't say walk/jog anymore?  :-)).  I got in half a mile before I saw lightning.  Sigh.  I tried. 

I follow a blog called PriorFatGirl.  Here is an excerpt from the latest post of one of the contributors (actually, the woman in charge of it) to the blog:

"Our server came by just enough to let us know he was still there but not to bombard us with intrusions. When he noticed we were slowing down on our meals, he asked the tempting question surrounding the subject dessert. Would we or wouldn't we? I entertained the thought. I even went so far as to ask for descriptions of heavenly creations and begin the process of elimination deciding which one I wanted in my stomach.

As I looked up at the server, I noticed a monster-sized antique looking door on the wall behind him. A symbol, I'm sure of it. The door represented all I'd hope for, fought for and dreamed of. This door was colorful as if alluding to the promises met on the other side. It also appeared to be a heavy door of which one would need to use all the fight they had to push open. It looked simple yet screamed of strength and power.



The server was calmly waiting to fulfill my dessert dreams but my thought process revolving the door helped me realize my stomach was truly satisfied. I had bread and chickpea spread and honey butter. I had udon noodles with a spicy peanut sauce and chicken and an egg. I was satisfied and did not need dessert. {Trust me, I'll talk plenty in the future of dinners when I decide dessert is the perfect end to an evening.} As the server walked away, I looked up as if my decision had been influenced from above. A wall full of mismatched framed mirrors looked down at me.


I smiled and snapped a photo. Doors and mirrors. An entrance to possibilities and a reminder of responsibility. Out in the real world, healthiness exists. We just have to slow down and take a breath long enough for it to make its presence known to us. Blackbird Cafe gives us the space we need to take a breath long enough for us to slow down in a fast paced world. It is a reminder we can be healthy by looking in the mirror and seeing ourselves making responsible decisions."


Isn't it cool that God showed her that?!  I certainly see Him at work here!

I can't do this without help. And I'm not. :-)

I took yesterday off from my jog. It stormed when I would've run anyway. Today I did 2 sections plus 110 steps, almost another complete section. On one section I was thinking about things and went to almost 120 steps! And as I approached another I looked ahead and prepped myself by saying, "Jog one, jog two, plus 180." 180????????!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, that's what I said to myself!

Sometimes I wonder why I do this because, honestly, I don't like the process of jogging and I definitely don't like sweating.  What I like are the results of jogging and of pushing myself (gently) beyond what I think I'm capable of.  Clearly, I'm meant to continue jogging and not stop.  Maybe I'll even expand beyond 3.1 miles when these three 5Ks are over (but you didn't hear that from me!  Not yet, anyway!)

Unrelated to that, I was at my mom and dad's house and decided to see what was in their fridge.  Today is a liquid day for me with one solid meal, which I already had.  But I was hungry.  There was a bucket of KFC chicken and (this all happened in less than a second) I fully intended to get a piece.  Just as quickly as I made that decision, I smelled it.  Even though it wasn't rotten, the smell just...got to me.  And I heard a voice say, "No, you won't." 

So I didn't.  But I'm still hungry.  Matthew West is on the radio right now singing The Motions, one of the songs that helped me through my 20-day fast.  I have a line from that song on one of my workout T-shirts, "I don't want to spend my whole life asking, 'What if I had given everything?' instead of going through the motions."

Help me continue to resist, God. 

Sweat is Beautiful

I follow a blog called Prior Fat Girl and one of the contributors is doing a project called Sweat is Beautiful.  She asked people to send in pictures of themselves after a workout, so I did.  I even told her that sweat is ageless too and that I'm almost 42.  Imagine!  Here's the picture:

Now, I'm not going to send this picture to a modeling agency, even a plus-size one!  But the fact that I took a picture of myself looking like this and posted it for all of cyberspace to see is testimony to how far God has brought me.  If this was just a random picture, I would've deleted it from my camera, but there is a purpose for it.  Sweat isn't beautiful in the Hollywood sense but I'm moving my body and disciplining it like in 1 Corinthians 9:27.  "I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should."

That verse and the one before it in The Message read like this:  "I don't know about you, but I'm running hard for the finish line. I'm giving it everything I've got. No sloppy living for me! I'm staying alert and in top condition. I'm not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself."

So if disciplining my body produces sweat and flushing, so be it.  I'm okay with that.  :-)

I JUST REGISTERED FOR MY VERY FIRST RACE!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just registered for my very first race, the Sunrise Run!  I'm excited!  I'll be running the 5K on October 8 at 7:15 a.m. and you are ALL invited!  If you want more information, go here:

http://www.firsttothecross.com/

I'm excited that this will be my first run because the whole purpose of this run is to glorify God!  And that's my whole purpose for living and running! 

I can't wait to hug you all when I cross the finish line all sweaty and teary!  And I won't mind if you take my picture looking like that because I will have earned every drop of sweat and every tear!  I'm tearing up right now just typing this.  I want to go out and run NOW.  Um, but it's 9:15 p.m. and I hear thunder so I won't.  Only 9 more hours until I can go out and run! 

This is quite a different post from this morning's, isn't it?!

Man, it's hot out there!

Just as my daughter and I were leaving for exercise class this morning she got a call that it was canceled due to lightning.  Oh.  Okay.  Now I can finish my work from yesterday and it won't be as late as it would've been if I'd let it wait until we got back from class.  When work was done and turned in, about 9:30, I decided to do my run since we didn't have class.  It's BRUTALLY HOT out there.  It's bad enough to jog at 6:30 in the morning but 9:30 is just ridiculous!  Yogi Berra used to say that 90% of the game is 50% mental.  Yeah.  Think about it.  What he meant was that football or jogging or anything physical isn't just physical.  It's also mental.  Boy, I found that out today.  This week I'm jogging 2 sections plus 100 steps.  One week I do an ABA pattern (mile 1, then mile 2 is turned 90 degrees, then mile 1 again).  The next week I do a BAB pattern just to keep my mind fresh.  I like routine but not ruts.  A little change is a good thing.  This morning, though, I was really battling my mind that thought I was crazy for jogging in the heat and humidity.  I wanted to stop like I haven't wanted to in months!  After one section I thought I was supposed to turn but I was really supposed to go straight.  It took only about 15 seconds to figure it out in my head, but...man, it was BRUTALLY HOT out there!  I had to make myself do at least this section.  If I wanted to quit after that, fine, but I had to try.  And the next section.  And 100 more steps. 

After about half a mile of that, I did stop.  I went 2 miles total.  And that's okay.  Tomorrow is another day.  At least I did 2.  That's more than if I'd not gone at all.