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!