To Run Or Not To Run?

I haven’t wanted to run for MONTHS but I’m still doing so, mostly mechanically.  Just running because I know it’s good for me.  In April I ran the Iron Girl 5K for a friend who was unable to run it after registering. 

I thought maybe racing instead of just training would be a shot in the arm, but it wasn’t.  There’s a long, high bridge in that race that I’ve run dozens of times but not in a couple years.  On my usual training runs there are no bridges or overpasses so I hadn’t trained for that.  I ran all the way up and down

 

but on the way back I had to walk part of the way up.  That was not a proud moment.  It was only a 5K, for goodness’ sake!  I shouldn't have to walk!  I did get a medal for finishing that run,

 

but it didn’t motivate me to get faster or to sign up for another race.

At Fitness Club last night we were doing a warmup - run the width of the half-basketball court,

run the walkway equal to the half-basketball court,

 

 

run up and then back down the stairs,

 

return to the court and do 2 laps of kneeups, then repeat.  We did this inside rather than our usual outside warmup because there had been a storm earlier and the sky still looked unstable.  After the second-time-around running portion, I was hoping for a storm in the morning so I didn’t have to run.  Oh, wait a minute.  Oops.  I was supposed to be doing kneeups and what was I doing instead?  I was…running.  While I was hoping I didn’t have to…run…in the morning.  Yet I was…running, not trying to get out of running.   

When the others let me know I was supposed to be doing kneeups I told them a little about how strange it was that I haven’t wanted to run for so long yet I keep running.  I’ve even wondered if I should really commit to running a half-marathon late this year.  Am I just wasting my time?  Has running run its course in my life?  Honestly, if I stopped running I would miss it at first but after a couple weeks of not running I would just look back fondly on this season of my life and be grateful for it but know that sometimes things come for a season and then leave and that’s okay.  The more I said things like this the more the others told me I should keep running (not instead of doing kneeups but in general).  They said I would regret stopping.  That’s true; I probably would.  The only workout or run I regret is the one I decide not to do.  If I decide not to do a half, the day will come for the one I have in mind and I won’t be prepared and I won’t be running, and I’ll regret it.  I’ll be disappointed in myself, others will be disappointed in me, and most of all I’ll miss out on showing people what God can do with someone who lets Him have His way with her.  My body doesn’t belong to just me.  It also belongs to God who made it, and He has shown me over and over the last few years that He wants me to be an example of what He can do, so stopping running now would deprive the people He wants to reach of a visible example of His power. 

That certainly doesn’t mean I think I’m the ultimate human specimen.  Far…haa haa…far from…hee hee…far from it!  Oh my goodness, I am SO not putting myself out as having a perfect body. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!  Yes, I’ve lost a lot of weight, but I still have a lot more I’d like to lose.  I still have the evidence (loose skin on my tummy, bingo wings) of those excess pounds, and even though I’m technically running, it’s very slow.  I have practically 0 chance of ever placing in the top 3 of my age group in a race, much less winning one outright.  Even though I’m turning back the clock big time as someone once told me, the clock is still ticking.  I’m getting older.  My times are getting slower, I hate to admit.  I’m still moving, though, and that’s a big accomplishment from where I was before.  If I hadn’t begun walking and then running and had kept eating the way I used to I may have exploded by now.  I would certainly be much heavier than I was, more miserable, and of no help to anyone.   

So even though my body feels the effects of each run or workout I do, I’ll keep doing them.  I’ll keep moving this body as long as God allows me to and not let a dry period stop me.  I’ll run with perseverance the race God has set before me.  He hasn’t told me to stop running; that’s been my own inertia wanting to take over again. 

Thank you to Shane, Patty, Troy, and Frank for encouraging me at Fitness Club to not give up!  If you need some encouragement, join us on Monday nights from 7-8 at Calvary Chapel’s rec room and move your body for God’s glory.  All fitness levels are welcome and encouraged!  Shane will show you how to modify exercises to fit where you are now and encourage you to accept that but also push yourself to what you didn’t think you could do.  And it’s free!

Calvary Chapel Fitness Club 

I did run this morning.  There was no sign of a storm and no reason not to run.  There was no beautiful sunrise pic to show you of today’s run, though.  Some days there is and some days there isn’t.  That’s the way the cookie crumbles (pun intended).  Thankfully, I don’t let sunrises be the deciding factor in whether I run or not.

My First Long Run (well, sort of)

I’ve been wanting to do a long run for a few weeks.  I always run 3.1 miles and have started going a little bit farther most times, but probably haven’t gotten farther than 1/10 of a mile beyond 3.1.  Nothing wrong with that.  It’s how I got to 3.1 miles.  I just felt the need to see how far I could go if I didn’t set limits.  My plan was to run as far as I could but remember that I had to go all the way back. 

This morning I drove to the closest spot to my house where I could get on the Pinellas Trail – Park Street and Bay Pines Blvd. 

 

I started by going up the stairs.  It’s hard to see them, but they’re under the third lit traffic light in this picture.  Nothing like a good flight of stairs to start your workout!  J  The trail then had to go down, of course, which was fun.  It continued across the water where I had a gentle breeze.  Ahhh!!!  So refreshing compared to running in what feels like 100% humidity for the last five months. 

I continued running and listening to music.  I seemed to be making slow progress because when I looked at my watch it said I had been running for about 12 minutes but I wasn’t to the song I usually hear at the 1-mile mark.  Uh oh.  Why was I running slower this morning?  Oh.  Maybe it was the Five Guys burger I had last night.  Ugh.  L  I won’t be doing that again for a long time, if ever.  And if I do, I’ll try to remember to order a little burger, which has only one patty. 

Anyway, I kept plugging along.  I had no way of really measuring distance on the trail.  They should put mile markers on the trail.  They could start at the north end and put markers every mile and start at the south end and put markers every mile in the other direction.  I should suggest that to the county. 

After a while I came to the overpass/hill at Seminole Blvd.

 

Whee!  Downhill is fun! 

Chugging along, enjoying my music, remembering to pick my feet up.  Almost done!  I could see another overpass/hill coming up, but 40 minutes was also coming up, which is how long it takes me to run 3.1 miles.  I couldn’t quit at the bottom of the hill, so when I hit 40 minutes I continued running.  I got to the bottom of the hill at 41:20 and then walked up it.  This was the one at 113^th Street.  I walked across then down the other side, turned around, and did it again.  HA!  I WILL conquer hills even if I have start out by walking them! 

I walked back to the car, 3.1 miles away.  I ended up going 6.2 miles plus two and a half overpasses/hills in 1 hour and 47 minutes.  That’s twice as far as I’ve ever gone and I ran half the way. 

It didn’t turn out exactly like I’d envisioned with me pushing myself to run, but I just couldn’t see running up another overpass/hill at the end of my usual run.  Maybe next time. 

I definitely put $2 in my workout jar today instead of just $1.  J 

 

That piggy’s getting fat!  And I’m not! 

In related news, I was hungry for lunch today but everything I thought of to make sounded blah.  I know!  Little bits of ice cream on Teddy Grahams!  Um…are you kidding, Michele!  That’s ridiculous!  Then the words of a Hawk Nelson song popped into my head, “They look at us like we’re ridiculous.  Maybe it’s all because of crazy love.”  Oh, yeah.  Jesus loves me with crazy love.  And I’m about to show how much I love Him by putting ice cream on Teddy Grahams for lunch.  I rinsed the ice cream down the drain.  Ups and downs but always moving forward. 

Come Run With Me!

I ran at Philippe Park this morning. 

It’s a very popular park with runners and walkers, I found out.  I had no way to measure distance, so I just ran for 40 minutes, which is about how long it takes me to do 3.1 miles.  I warmed up for a short time and then decided to tackle the hill first so I would be fresh when I did it. 

Once I got to the top of the hill and did a little victory dance (not really), I ran down the stone steps. 

Then along the seawall (baywall?)

for quite a distance.  When I got to the end I doubled back and ran uphill (a different one and not as steep) again.  I then headed down a road that ends in a loop but turned around before I got all the way because it was boring.  Who needs flat same old-same old when there are hills to run?!  I’m not sure of my route after that.  I just knew I needed to keep running for 40 minutes.  I think I did the hill again then down the steps again, then something else, then up the steps

Then down the hill. 

After 40 minutes I felt better than I usually do after a run because I did something different this time.  I don’t need change all the time (in fact, I fight change that's just for the sake of change), but I do like it occasionally if it’s for a good reason.  It’s about a 15-mile drive from my house to this park so I won’t be doing this very often, but it’s nice to know there’s a pretty place to get some hills into my workout.  And this park has so many draws – woods, water, hills, flat areas.  Love it!   

I took some videos of going up the hill and up and down the steps, but they were taking a very long time to upload so I decided to leave them out.  Here are some other pictures of the park: 

Looking downhill with people for perspective.

Distant view of beautiful tree

Left side of same tree

Right side of same tree

Thank You, God, for the beauty of Your creation and how You meet our wants as well as our needs.