Week 2 Day 3

I just got back from my Week 2 Day 3 workout on a treadmill at our local recreation center. Since I began, my brisk walk and walking throughout the workouts has been at 3.5 miles per hour. Today, I did my brisk walk and walking throughout at 3.7 miles per hour. I felt I needed to increase my speed. When it came to running the first week, I was running at 5.0 miles per hour. On Tuesday and Thursday of this week, I was running at 5.1 miles per hour. Today I ran at 5.2 miles per hour. Just increasing my speed a little at a time feels rewarding. I feel sufficiently challenged at this point. Next week after a 5 minute brisk walk, I will be jogging 90 seconds then walking 90 seconds then jogging 3 minutes then walking 3 minutes. I will do this for 2 repetitions. I will cool down enough to make it a 30 minute total work-out. I am curious to see how this will go.

Today I listened to a sermon podcast on prayer and was reminded that our prayers do have great impact and that the Lord's Prayer is a model for how we should pray (see Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4). God hears our prayers. Though God may not always answer them as we would like, God's wisdom is greater than our own and eventually we may see the bigger picture of what God is trying to accomplish. Prayer makes our relationship with God stronger and allows us to be at peace with whatever may unfold.

Several months ago we began Sunday Morning Prayer each Sunday at 10:00 am. Sometimes there are two of us and sometimes there are 5 or 6 of us. We pray for ourselves and those closest to us. We pray for our community and our world. We pray for the Church in all places. We pray for our local church. We pray for those who come through the doors of the church that day, including the preacher and the liturgist. We pray requests that do not fit into any category at all. Through the prayer time, God is near and listens. Through the prayer time, we are growing closer together as the Body of Christ as we pray. Through the prayer time, we are growing closer to God.

Through this journey of jogging/walking, I feel that God is near, urging me 0n this journey to better health. I sense this journey leading me to a more disciplined life. I had a few tough episodes in my life this week that I felt I was able to handle with grace (mostly) because of the increased discipline in my life. The discipline has allowed me to have a sense of grace and peace I did not expect. I know that this next week is going to be a busy one and glad to be journeying with God through it all.

May you find a sense of grace and peace with God as you journey. May we continue on this journey together....

Week 2 Day 2

Tonight I trained for the 5th day on the journey to 5k - Week 2, Day 2. I got there a little before 9:00 pm and just about every treadmill was in use. It's always nice to see familiar faces and to be part of a "regular" crowd of people who work out at the Rec Center in the evenings. Tonight I listened to a sermon on stretching ourselves and being open to God's will for us and God's plan in general. Often when things get tough we may think, "Has God really called me to be here in this time and in this place to do this task?" Moses may have felt that way with leading the Israelites. I'll tuck this lesson in the back of my mind when the training gets tough (or when other things in life get tough). I really enjoy the physical and spiritual aspects of my life coming together. Good time to listen and reflect while jogging/walking.

Tonight I also joined a program through the local diabetes prevention office. The program is called "10 in 10" and it is a challenge to lose 1-2 pounds per week for the next 10 weeks. My goal is to lose 10 pounds. We weigh in each week and receive education at meetings following. There were nearly 50 people there tonight. David is doing this challenge with me, as are a few people from our church and a few Rotarians. How affirming that so many people in Nome are making the commitment to better health!

Additionally, through my health insurance I have joined Virgin Health Miles. They are challenging us to get in at least 7,000 steps in the next 11 out of 14 days. If we accomplish this, we get 200 extra points. The more points we get the more levels we travel through. The more levels, the more cash we win. So far in the first two days I have met that goal. Nine more days to go!

There are many reasons to get into shape and make the workouts worth it. I actually look forward to working out. I am so grateful that the Rec Center is open until 10:00 pm and that I can end my day with my physical/spiritual workout instead of beginning my day with it. Blogging at the end of the day just helps me to reflect further. For all this, I am grateful. Thank you for journeying with me!

Week 2 Day 1 - Part 2

Here is the photo David took of me last night after my workout and a little time on the couch. Can't completely neglect the couch! ;-)

Week 2 Day 1

Here we are at Week 2 Day 1 of training for a 5k. The routine this week has added 30 seconds more running and 30 seconds more walking per cycle. This means that after a brisk 5 minute warm-up walk, I am jogging for 90 seconds followed by 2 minutes of walking. I repeat the jog/walk cycle 6 times in 21 minutes. Then I cool down for 4 minutes. I enjoy the challenge and structure the training offers. Looking forward to the other two days this week to workout - Thursday and Saturday. My left hip hurts a little bit, but I am sure it will get better with time. Thank goodness for the day or two of rest between workouts. The shoes my sister-in-law helped me pick out are comfortable. I feel that they offer me good support around the ankles. Tonight I also had the nerve to have David take my picture to post. Periodically I hope to post photos. For those of you on this journey as well, thank you for inspiring me!! I will post the photo as soon as I get it from David.

Week 1 Day 3

Just got back from a work out on the journey toward running a 5k. I feel great!! Listened to podcasts as well on the topics of goodness and faithfulness - two fruits of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22-23. Hoping to remain faithful on this journey. It is a real test of commitment, though I look forward to the work outs. Maybe it's because I go at night and in the afternoon. Mornings may have been one of my hurdles.

The journey to 5k continues...

Day After Week 1 Day 2

I am not as sore as I expected that I would be today. I have kept moving doing laundry and trying to tidy up a bit. I feel like my life is getting more into balance. Perhaps taking up running is helping me to get centered - centered physically and centered spiritually - important ways to be centered that affect the other aspects of one's life. Now it's time to take my incredible husband out for dinner because he is so amazing. I am thankful to God for bringing him into my life.

Journey Toward 5k

Again, it's been a while since I have blogged. I keep reading lots of amazing blogs from family and friends. I am watching cousins and children of friends grow up through photos and blogging. It's time for me to share about a new journey on which I am embarking...a journey of preparing to run a 5k sometime in 2011!!!

In May 2006, I was the heaviest I have ever been in my life and was not exactly feeling good about myself. I was enjoying the life of eating out and overeating carbs when I got stressed out over papers and tests. I was in my second semester of seminary and had been dating David (now my husband) for six months. As I look back, I met the man of my dreams when I was at my heaviest and he was still attracted to me. I had always told myself that no one could possibly love me until I weighed the ideal weight for my height.

On May 5, 2006, I joined Weight Watchers and weighed in for the first time. David had been on the Weight Watchers Program before and said he would join again if I wanted to join. While I was not happy with my weight, I knew that this was the beginning of a journey toward better health. Over the next fifteen months, I lost almost 40 pounds on WW. It was not always easy, but I had some great women who got up with me at 5:30 am three mornings a week and we walked briskly around the sidewalk track on the campus of Saint Paul School of Theology. I had another friend who walked with me a couple other days in the week. I felt a sense of freedom as the pounds came off. I felt better about myself.

I kept loosing some after I got married, but I let the stress of my last year of seminary get to me and I cared less and less about staying on WW Program. By the time I moved back to Alaska I had gained back all but 17 pounds. Over the next two years I lost 10 pounds and then gained it back and then a little bit more. I was not liking how my clothes were fitting me. I was no longer feeling good or the freedom I enjoyed.

Finally at the end of August 2010, I was ready to get back on Weight Watchers online and really loose some weight. I would like to get pregnant at some point in the near future and could not imagine being any heavier. Fortunately David was ready to be in WW program again too. It really makes a difference to have your partner on a similar journey. I went to the local diabetes prevention department at the hospital and joined their "Step-by-Step" program. I bit the bullet and weighed in. They agreed to weigh David and me each week, because that accountability is what helped us to be successful in the past. I have lost about 17 pounds over the last four months. I have been feeling the same sense of freedom that I have felt in the past when I have lost weight. I am enjoying this journey despite the holiday yo-yo.

At Thanksgiving, I found out that my sister-in-law will be running the Boston Marathon in 2011. I want to be there for her as she finishes. Before I found out about her challenge, I had been thinking that one of my short-term goals is to do the running leg in our local triathlon. To accomplish that goal, my even shorter term goal is to run a 5k. I just began this week training using the couch-to-5k program as outlined online. I got inspired the other night when I looked online for touristy things to do in Boston, should I actually go to watch my sister-in-law finish the Boston Marathon. I noticed that one of the touristy options was to do a tour while running a 5k. I thought, "What an amazing way to see a city I have not been to in 19 years!!" So here I am training. I have since found out that there will be a 5k in Nome at the end of August this year. There are many reasons to train for this 5k. The greatest for me is the sense of accomplishment and to continue my journey to better health. I have been overweight most of my life and really want to be a much healthier weight.

This first week, I have been running on a treadmill at the local recreation center in the evenings. Did Day 1 on Tuesday and Day 2 tonight. Day 3 is Saturday. Five minute brisk walking warm up followed by 20 minutes of jogging 60 seconds & walking 90 seconds. I cool down for another 5 minutes. It feels good so far. As I have been doing my workouts, I have been listening to sermon podcasts. Both my body and my spirit are getting challenged!! Worship & exercise together!! What an awesome combo! God is there on the journey too!

Join me on this journey...