Gasparilla 2012

Last Saturday was the Gasparilla 5K, but I didn't run it.  I didn't even walk it.  My knee and ankle were hurting too badly and I, again, didn't want to do permanent damage.  It was...not depressing...to be there and not participate.  It was...I can't think of the right word.  I tried to meet up with the Calvary Chapel Running Team, but never found any of them.  Since I wasn't participating in the race, none of my family was there.  Ah, that's what I felt...alone.  All by myself.  I know God was with me, but I felt alone humanly speaking. 

Heading to the 5K start.

                                                                   The 5K starting line.

                                            Sure!  I'll walk behind some military runners!  ;-)

I ended up leaving before the 5K even started.  I was going strawberry picking with my dad.  Since I had no one to watch the race with or for, there was no sense in staying there. 

My dad and I drove to Spivey Farms in Plant City http://www.myspiveyfarms.com/ and picked 40 quarts of strawberries!  Thank You, God, for these times of bonding with my almost 87-yo Daddy! 

For a couple years now, God has been giving me Psalms 46:10 now and then.  "Be still and know that I am God."  It's very hard for me to be still because there's just so much I want to DO!  That verse has been coming up again lately, especially Saturday at Gasparilla.  I've been made to be more still than I want to because of my knee and ankle.  Running Saturday was supposed to be full circle for me.  It was while watching runners come across the finish line of the Gasparilla 15K last year that God put this dream of running in my heart.  I realized there was no physical reason I couldn't run like they were doing.  Now there IS a physical reason and I don't like it.  I trust God, though.  I don't know what He has planned for me by keeping me from running, but I trust that it's for my good.

I'm still walking, icing, stretching, and strengthening.  My plan is to once a week try running again if I've had no pain in my knee or ankle, but that hasn't happened.  In addition to being still and knowing that God is God, this has been helpful:

I don't know how to make it bigger.  It says, "Run when you can, walk when you have to, crawl if you must.  Just never give up."  :-)

Day 19 - Thursday

Down 0.6 pounds from yesterday, 16 pounds from the beginning, and 92 pounds from my heaviest weight. 

Today is the first of two transition days out of this fast.  The first thing I ate this morning was a strawberry!  Yum!  Then I made fruit salad with a banana, an apple, strawberries, and mangoes.  I mixed it with some homemade yogurt (to replenish good bacteria in my digestive tract) and cinnamon.  Mmmmm!  As soon as Brianne’s done washing dishes I’ll start cutting up my salad so it’ll be ready for lunch.  I also made a cup of hot tea.  Instead of cream I used evaporated skim milk.  I read that on a list of food substitutions I saw on Pinterest.  Yuck!  I poured it out after drinking only half.  My tummy is quite full anyway so…  I’ll compare the label of evaporated regular milk with cream, see how it stacks up, and may try that.  I don’t miss smoothies or veggie puree at all! 

Yesterday I went for a 1.2-mile walk and jogged twice for 30 seconds and once for a shorter time.  Today I’ll try for jogging 1 minute at a time since I’ll have more food (energy) in my body. 

Evaporated regular milk has a better nutrition profile than cream or half & half, but the taste is just so-so.  Maybe I can experiment with combining low and high-fat items to come up with one that tastes good. 

I walk/jogged for a total of 25 minutes doing 1 minute of jogging and 3-4 minutes of walking.  Friday I’ll do longer jogging sections and work my way back up to running a full 3.1 miles.  I’m looking forward to it!

I like salad anyway, and it sure was nice to eat some Thursday.  J  I’ll do that Friday too and until the salad is gone.  I used only one bag of spring mix, not one bag plus one bag of spinach, 4 Roma tomatoes, 1 cucumber, 3 carrots, 2 chicken breasts, and 4 eggs, and it still made a HUGE amount of salad.  I may be eating this into Sunday.  Saturday I’ll have BBQ at this place:    http://www.smknjsbbq.com/

Pulled pork and brisket, but just a little of each.  No sides; just meat.  And ½ sweet tea ½ unsweet.  Mmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!