Midnight 10K

I've kept putting this post off because something (like work) always came up that I needed to get done.  No more!  I'm finally writing!  Not that there's anything in this post that's super exceptional that I just have to record, but it keeps hanging over my head.  Unfinished business.  So here goes: 

 

On July 3 at about 9:00 at night a few family members and I headed north about 20 miles to Dunedin to the Kiwanis Midnight Run.  I ran the 5K last year and signed up for the 10K this year.  This was my first 10K since December, which was my first one ever.  I had run 6.2 miles in training a couple times but not a lot.  I felt prepared, though.  I picked up my race packet and shirt and was able to get one that was size large.  Not XL.  Not XXL.  Not XXXL.  Just L.   

 

Do you know how happy that makes me feel?!

The 5K started a little before midnight and the 10K started about 12:30.  I began the course running with my friend Lisa, but she quickly outpaced me.  Go Lisa!  I kept running at my happy pace.  Here comes a drawbridge.  So cool to run over the metal grate and see the water directly below me!  Ahhhhh!  Downhill!  Such fun!  A breeze!  Okay, now it's flat, hot, and humid again.  Blehh!  We headed toward Honeymoon Island State Park and, just like last year, it was nice to leave the city lights behind and run toward moonlight on the water and quietness.  The 5K runners turned around at some point and the 10Kers kept on running.  We entered the park and it got even quieter.  Mmmmmmm!!!  Love it!  There was less of a breeze now, though, because of woods around us.  Still nice.  I wanted to hear the quiet so I turned off my MP3 player.  I heard frogs so I quickly turned the music back on and made sure I stayed near the middle of the road.  I don't like am irrationally terrified of frogs.  They're disgusting, ugly, gross, and creepy, and I have my three younger brothers to thank for this irrational fear.  I know frogs can't hurt me, but I'd hurt myself trying to get away from one!  I moved to the center of the road so that if one was fool enough to jump onto the road from the shoulder, I'd see it (hopefully) and have time to scream and do a funny weird little dance to get out of its way. 

Ahem.  Moving on.  I tried a couple more times to run without music but all I heard was frogs.  At one point I felt a sharp pain in my knee, but I prayed and asked God to heal and strengthen it.  The pain was gone in a few steps.  Thank You, God! 

There were luminaries lining the road since there are no light posts out on the island.  Very pretty.  At the turnaround point there was a van parked sideways with a large American flag displayed on it and they were playing Bruce Springsteen's Born In The USA (since it was July 4th).  Cool!  That gave me a little more momentum. 

 

I finished the 10K in 1:23:09 at a 13:23 pace.  That's almost a minute slower than the one I did in December, but this one was run at midnight after a full day of being awake and working (I got about a 2-hour nap in the afternoon).  I had run the first part of this course in last year's 5K, but otherwise it was unfamiliar.  I ran the December 10K course at least twice a week for a couple months in training, so I'm pleased with my results. 

Another Revelation

I felt bloated and hungry at the same time, but stuck it out for well over an hour.  Then I ate ice cream with strawberries.  I didn't think to measure the ice cream; I just scooped some into a bowl then sliced 5 or 6 strawberries to mix in with it.  While I was eating it, my brother texted me and we started having a fun conversation.  Before I knew it I had finished the ice cream, even drinking the last bit that had melted.  I now feel not just bloated but FAT.  L  I decided to go rinse the rest down the drain.  This isn’t the first time I’ve rinsed ice cream down the drain.  Or the second.  Or even the third.  I’m seeing a pattern here.  It’s not a good idea for me to keep ice cream in the house.  When I’m out, I don’t feel a need to get ice cream.  In fact, I honestly can’t remember the last time I had ice cream out.  It’s been YEARS.  The only reason this was here is that my daughter and her friend made fried ice cream last week and this was left over. 

When David sinned with Bathsheba, one thing that led to his downfall is that he was not where he was supposed to be.  He should’ve been at war with his troops.  I should’ve been at work.  It’s now 9:30 at night and I have at least another hour of work to do.  I didn't need that ice cream to ensure my continued survival.  I could've had nothing. 

I want to say, “Live and learn.  Learn from this, brush it off, and move on.”  This is starting to be recurrent, though.  It’s not enough to brush it off and move on.  I don’t know what else I could’ve done differently.  Earlier this evening I did wait and the hungry feeling persisted so I thought it was real.  Maybe it was.  I don’t know what I could’ve had instead.  No, I do.  I could’ve put some thought into it and come up with a better snack than ice cream.  I don’t have a grocery store in my house, but I do have enough things that I could’ve made a better choice. 

I just prayed and asked God to forgive me.  I’m starting over right now.  Not tomorrow morning.  Certainly not next Monday.  Obviously I don’t need to eat anything else tonight.  Tomorrow’s breakfast will be my usual steel-cut oats with homemade yogurt and strawberries. 

Day 3

Angie, thank you.  I just prayed for you.  Ask God to show you how he wants you to honor Him.  Have you ever fasted before?  If not, I recommend starting slowly by going just one hour longer in the morning before you eat.  If you normally get up at 6 and eat right away, wait until 7.  The next time go for 8.  Then 9.  You’ll eventually work your way up to all day.  The point is saying, “God, I love you more than _____________, and here’s how I’m going to show that.” 

Tina, good for you!  It’s better to let it go to waste than to let it go to waist! 

Down 1.6 pounds from yesterday and 4.6 from beginning. 

A smoothie made of beet greens and an apple/veggie juice is nasty!  I added apple cider, applesauce, and cinnamon and it's much better. 

I made my first veggie broth this morning with beets, mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, green peppers, and yellow squash along with Old Bay seasoning, thyme, chipotle powder, and basil.  Oh, and the leftover Carmelita's salsa!  Quite colorful and I'm proud of myself for that!  :-)

I cooked it for a few hours in the crockpot then strained the veggies out and froze them for soup after the fast.  I now have broth for Tuesday and Wednesday. 

I chopped the beet greens and stems and put them in the blender along with some Apple & Eve Fruitables Apple Harvest juice.  By itself it's not too sweet, which is good, but the beet greens need sweetness!  I had to add apple cider, applesauce, and cinnamon to it and now have enough smoothie for today and tomorrow also!  I won't be using beet greens in a smoothie again, but I'm not going to waste this batch. 

Insights from A Hunger for God by John Piper:

Food is good.  But God is better. 

...from time to time we need to test ourselves to see if we have begun to love His gifts in place of God.  

It is the passionate resolve to resist anything that lures the heart away from an all-controlling satisfaction in God. 

I will...allow my heart to be probed with fasting to see where my allegiance is and who is my God.  



Physically, I'm feeling fine.  I get tired a little more than usual, but that's to be expected.  I take a nap and am able to continue on with my day.

The War Is Already Won

When my dad and I were in the ER waiting room last night I was very hungry.  We got the call that they were taking my mom there just before we sat down to supper and it was now an hour after that, so about 7:00.  After a while of sitting there thinking about how hungry I was, I remembered that there were vending machines behind me.  The thought of getting something from them, though, was gross.  It actually turned my stomach.  A couple years ago I would've known that it wasn't a good choice but I would've tried to make the best of it somehow.  Whole-grain Sunchips maybe?  A granola bar? 

Well last night I didn't get anything.  Neither the food nor the drink machine tempted me.  It wasn't that I fought a battle and won; the battle, no the war, has already been won!  Woo!  I didn't even have to fight.  I just stood (or sat) in the victory that was already mine.  How peaceful!

I still owe y'all the rest of the race report.  I've been so swamped lately with my mom's injury and hospitalization and taking care of Brianne, my dad, and all the household stuff for them.  Since I'm on here anyway, I might as well do it now. 

We started running the race and got into a decent pace.  People were passing us, but that was okay.  I WAS RUNNING THE RACE!!!  A little bit after the 1-mile mark I saw the first person I recognized since starting.  He was holding up his phone to take a picture of me and I hollered, "I'm doing it!"  I was almost giddy!  Soon after that I saw my daughter who took a few pictures and encouraged me to keep going.  That made me happy too!  Then we didn't see anyone we knew until the very end. 

We continued on the course, which we knew very well from all our practice runs.  As we neared the end I started hearing music and seeing people I recognized.  Melisa and I had worked some on having a strong finish, but it's very difficult to push at the end when you're so tired.  Seeing people I knew, though, and hearing them cheer for me, FOR ME!!, energized me!  Two friends who had already finished came back and ran across the finish line with us.  That was fun!  I picked up my pace and practically sprinted to the finish!  I posted a few days before the race some tips for spectators.  One of them mentioned being specific in your cheering.  "Yep, it is nice to hear “ohgoodjob” but lemme tell you it is so much more fun to hear “OH HERE SHE COMES, JEN JEN JEN, OVER HERE! WAHOO!!!! KEEP RUNNING, OH MY GOSH YOU ARE DOING IT! WAHOOOOOOOO!!! JEN KEEP RUNNING!!! I LOVE YOU!” No lie. Go all out. Your 30 seconds of screaming will carry me an entire mile. I will float on your cheers, puff my chest out and let your cheers be my fuel." 

I found out how true that is!  Seeing and hearing my friends cheering FOR ME gave me energy I never knew I had!  Thank you to everyone who was part of that!

Here are some more pictures:

Before leaving for the race.  I'm so nervous I'm already sweating!

Close up of the shirt I wrote on.  Thank you, Kendall!  I wrote on the purple one too and took it along to change into afterward because I knew I'd be sweaty, but there was such a strong breeze I didn't have to.

 I'm running so fast you can't even see me!

Here we come!

There we go!

My dad and me after the race.

Gotta get to work now.  Thank you to everyone who has prayed for and encouraged me.  Keep it up!  I'm still running!  This was only the first of many(?) more races to come!