Week 4 Day 2

Today I realized that I am in my second trimester of training. I feel a sense of accomplishment. Today I jogged at 5.3 mph & walked at 3.7 mph. I felt like I was on Kairos Time (aka God's time) tonight.

I got to the Rec Center with just enough time for my work out. I enjoyed singing and visiting with the Inupiaq Methodist Choir. We sang many of our translated songs in preparation for 5 opportunities to sing in the month of February. Exercising the lungs while singing, exercising the spirit while singing and praying, and exercising the smile muscles while chatting with a three year old. Then exercising the whole body while listening to a sermon podcast on following God's will for our lives. Loving God, Loving Neighbor - striving to serve others with their best interest at heart. Luke 10:27 says, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind' and 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" As we love others, we are loving them in Christ's name - we are striving to love them as God would love them. We may not always do it perfectly, but that does not mean that we should not keep trying. Life is a journey and a journey with God is one filled with grace.

May your journey be filled with God's grace. And the journey continues...

Week 4 Day 1

Another great and amazing workout! First of all, I entered the gym and saw a "fellow Rotarian" who is on this journey with me. I was happy and because he was there working hard, I knew I could too. I really did not think that I could run for 5 minutes straight without giving up at some point!! Wow! Mind over matter, I guess. My left hip has not been hurting as I run which is a relief, so I really did not have any excuse to stop unless I mentally talked myself out of it. Lately, other part of my body have been a little sore. It felt so great to run an interval of 3 minutes, walk for 1.5 minutes, run for 5 minutes, walk for 2.5 minutes, run for 3 minutes, walk for 1.5 minutes, run for 5 minutes, walk for 2.5, then cool down!! This was all after a brisk walk of 5 minutes. I was running at 5.2 mph and walking at 3.7 mph. I did not feel like this was too much, but just right. We'll see what Wednesday night brings as far as speed.

I have decided for the next two weeks to train on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I will be traveling beginning Friday night and then nearly all day Saturday to attend a continuing education and young clergy opportunity. I will be back home on the following Thursday night. So basically, I am going to be on a series of airplanes the days I normally do my training. The hotel where I will be staying advertises that they have a fitness center, so I am thrilled about that!

Tonight I listened to one of our United Methodist Bishops on two separate podcasts. The first podcast was more his editorial on equitable compensation of clergy within the UMC and the second was a sermon on the Prodigal Son and the Good Samaritan. Both of these are stories I need to hear once in a while to reflect where I have been recently in those stories - although, it's much easier to cast others in your life in those roles than it is to admit that sometimes we (I) may be the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son or one of the religious leaders that just passed by someone who needed our (my) help. Those stories sure help us to put things into perspective whether we like it or not. May we all strive to be like the prodigal's father, full of grace as he welcomed his younger son home after the hurt he caused. May we all strive to be like the Good Samaritan, breaking down the barriers of race and prejudice to do the right thing. May we all strive to be more like Christ, and receive God's grace and mercy when we just don't quite get there.

The journey continues...

Week 3 Day 3

I am now a third of the way done on the training journey to 5k. I have noticed that my hip hurts less than it did a couple weeks ago. Praise God for that! I did jog 5.1 mph and walked 3.7 mph.

The sermon I listened to while jogging/walking was about the need for Sabbath. I feel like running is like a mini-Sabbath. I look forward to it and it rejuvenates me. The preacher, knowing that his audience is full of super-busy people, encouraged us to critically discern one activity we can take out of our life so that we can slow down, enjoy life more, and lead a life more focused on God. I am wondering what that might be for me. It will not be running or listening to sermons. These two things have sustained me during this exceptionally busy time. Only time will tell.

The journey continues....

Week 3 Day 2 - Part 2

This is me after my week 3 day 2 work out. If you look closely, I wore a United Methodist t-shirt last week and wore a different United Methodist t-shirt this week. This one was from General Conference 2008. Last week's was Rethink Church. What shirt will I wear next week?? The journey continues....

Week 3 Day 2

Tonight was another great work out. It was not crowded at all at the rec center. David was there with me exercising again! His parents would be so proud! The guy from the other night with the cassette player was there again. Tonight he moved closer to the 21st Century with his discman. Fun times and fun building of community.

Speed-wise I stayed at 5.0 mph jogging and 3.5 mph brisk walking. We will see what Saturday brings. I felt good running and again a sense of accomplishment when I jogged for three minutes straight in two different intervals. Endurance is building.

Tonight I listened to another sermon podcast on prayer. I felt encouraged to pray prayers of thanksgiving. I am thankful for legs to run, a husband who came to exercise with me, someone to laugh with at the gym about technology, dogs who welcomed me when I got home and for God who loves me unconditionally. Many more prayers of thanksgiving to come.

The journey continues...

Week 3 Day 1

I just got back from training - Week 3 Day 1. I have to admit that a tiny bit of me secretly wanted to stay home. I did decide to go and David went with me!!! Phew! What a guy! He was working out on an elliptical machine down the row from me as I did my workout. He asked the guy next to him if the cassette player he brought belonged in the Smithsonian and all of a sudden there was much light bantering around the workout room. Many of us agreed that the cassette player was from the 80's and maybe did belong in the Smithsonian! All in good fun!

I did enjoy my jog/walk this evening. At first I was overly ambitious and started jogging at 5.2 mph. Then I realized that I would burn myself out quickly. I dropped to 5.0 mph thinking that Thursday I would try 5.1 mph and then 5.2 mph on Saturday. We'll see how that rhythm works - Tuesdays 5.0; Thursdays 5.1; Saturday 5.2. I feel good and was pleased to be able to jog for more than 90 seconds - 3 minutes in fact! I am excited that my endurance is increasing. I am continuing to enjoy the journey toward 5k. I am really glad I did not stay home tonight!!

Also, I listened to another sermon podcast on prayer. The challenge in this sermon was to be intentional about prayer and not to pray 2 second text message-type prayers. May we all be intentional in our prayer lives!! It's all part of the journey!

The journey continues....

Week 2 Day 3 - Day After

I am happy for a couple days of rest before beginning Week 3. Last night I was wearing some of my shoes that I cannot exercise in because they just do not give me the support I need around the ankle. I call them my "look good" shoes because they are cute and look good with jeans which is what I mostly wear. They are like tennis shoes, but billed more as hiking shoes. Yeah right! When I bought them a few months ago I expected to be able to hike in them or at least walk in them. Anyway, I know not to wear them to jog or walk briskly. What I did not expect was that they caused my ankle to hurt when I wore them several hours after my workout. Consequently, I was limping as I wore them and even for a few hours after I took them off. Because I spent more money on my "look good" shoes than I would normally spend on a pair of shoes, I am reluctant to give them away. I want to get my money's worth out of them. On the other hand, I cannot live my life in pain especially when I am trying to get healthier and build up my endurance to run a 5k. The soreness of exercising is one thing. Pain for the sake of stylishness is another. I hope someone else will be able to wear the shoes comfortably that have given me so much pain. I am, however, grateful for the actually running shoes that my sister-in-law helped me pick out. Thank you, Rachel!! Thank you for your wisdom and for your inspiration!!