So You Think You Can Run

Sorry, it has taken me a while to get an update together. It is Amazing how busy you can get when you are trying to exercise, teach your children, work, have healthy meals ready, have healthy snacks on hand, look for a cell phone that has been lost for over one week, wait for Brewingtons to come unlock your vehicle that has the keys inside... etc.I hit a wall- hard last week! I went to another Zumba class at the YMCA (we aren't members I am just taking advantage of the fact that MOSI pass holders get in free for the month of Oct.) 3 minutes in I had a stitch in my side, my legs felt like lead, I had NO stamina at all. I pushed through it and stayed the whole time but, it messed me up dude! I had to convince myself that the Lord had provided the opportunity to be there- for free, with childcare! I was obligated to make the most of it!! Friday I did a yoga/pilates type deal at home mainly because I couldn't handle the disappointment of another bad workout. I did NOTHING Saturday or Sunday. :( See how sensitive I am.

 

 Monday I did a cheesy workout DVD at home. I did sweat a little but, not enough. Today, Thank goodness, I finally got my act together!! I ate a banana for breakfast, took my medicine, even took a vitamin! I went to Zumba and sweated my butt off! I felt myself pushing harder, able to do more. I smile the entire time- how annoying for the other people around me! I can't help it. I have to. I am smiling because I am trying to convince myself that, "This is Fun, I Love this, I could be running instead, I am gonna have thin thighs"- okay that's a stretch but, I have to pull out all the stops to keep myself going. Does everybody have to go to such lengths? I Really doubt it! I am probably Crazy! My body is trying to get me to quit the whole time I am running, walking, Zumba-ing, exercising at all. I feel like I need to pee the entire time and the minute I am done, feelings gone! I get stitches in my side. I feel nauseous. Why? Doesn't my body know that this is what's good for it?  I have climbed this hill before and I know that this is mostly temporary and if I continue to exercise on a regular basis it will subside.

 

  If Yoda is right and, "There is no try, only do" I am screwed! I prefer to measure success in the amount of effort. Even if you don't win a Gold Medal- You are still an Olympian! Right?

As we approach every dieter's favorite time of year, I am really concentrating on exercise. I usually get all worked up about food. What I want to eat but can't, what I want to make but know I shouldn't because then it will be in our house and I will eat it. All of this worrying is mostly in vain because when it comes down to it... I end up eating it anyway!! So this year I am taking a new approach. Focusing on exercising everyday! Yep, EVERYday! Some days are running days, some are stretch and strengthening, some are whatever I want to do ~ like Zumba~ don't judge! When you are exercising a couple things happen, it forces you to focus more on what you are feeding your body and it makes you hungry. You don't wanna blow a great work out on a couple donuts or a late night bowl of ice cream, Coca-Cola Classic... I could go on but, you get the picture.

 I am gonna focus on sweating everyday. My body is already asking me for better things. I am going to try to listen to that. If I can stay hydrated and not let myself get hungry, I might be able to stay away from all the cupcakes, kit-kats and snickers minis that are in my house right now!! Pray people, PRAY!!

Last week I did the thing I had been dreading and got all the stats on my body. I have to know where am I so I can see where I am going and when I get there I can look back and see how far I will have come. I want to share all these gory details with you, I do, but I don't want to exploit myself either. Just know it is Bad! It is really Bad. Nothing to be proud of. Maybe I will share it later in the journey but, right now it just seems to embarassing.

1Corinthians 6:19-20 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

                                                                                                                                                             

Beginnings are Hard

 Ever been a "Beginner"? When we are little our lives are full of beginnings; talking, walking, getting teeth, losing teeth, riding a bike, starting school, and many, many more! I remember a lot of my childhood. I can't remember to put the clothes in the dryer or take the bread out of the oven but, I can remember what my friend Kristen had on the first day of kindergarten and the name of the substitute teacher who "put my name on the board" in 1st grade. Frustrating sometimes but, it's nice to have some memories so locked in up there! Like, my favorite nightgown that my Mom wore, I remember the exact moment I felt nervous for the first time, I remember the first time I ever picked a dandelion.~ That is Crazy!

The things that we are forced to begin as grown-ups require change. I don't know about you but for me, Change is tough. It's scary! It's The unknown. The Dark. I have ALWAYS been afraid of the Dark! It is easy when you know what you are doing. What about when you don't? "Some people" ;)  can't stand not knowing, they just can't handle it. Thank God he is teaching me a little more everyday that I am NOT an expert, on anything!! It's ok! I don't have to be. He is showing me that there is Freedom in being a beginner and in not knowing exactly how or why!!

Sunday morning I started something!! I started training for a half marathon... ~That is Crazy! It was a small, slow start!! My friend Kathie and I walked for 40mins and jogged for about 5. We did approx 2 miles. It was nothing BIG. Could we have done more- Yes! Should we have done more- maybe? Will we do more-Definitely!! Monday night I went to a 1hr long Zumba class @ the YMCA. I really did some sweatin that night! Here's what I was thinking, " I might throw up, I could even pass out...really, I might die" Here's what I had to TELL myself, " If I throw up, that will be Bad but, I will live; If I pass out, I might get injured but, I will live; If I die, I will die TRYING!" Tuesday I got up @ 5:30 after being up for about an hour in the middle of the night with a sick little one, to jowalk with Kathie and another friend who IS a runner. (Told you guys, I am all or none at all) We jowalked 2.3 miles/40mins.

Some old people are stubborn, set in their ways, even boring. I refuse to be one of those old people! I wanna be that 60 year old woman who tried to swim 103 miles to Cubadiananyad.com or the 88 year old lady on the news who jumped out of an airplane. The 92 year old lady who is learning how to live life, without the Love of her life. Lord, Help me be better with change, a better beginner and let my ways be your ways! Psalm 18:29-30 For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall. As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried:he is buckler to all those that trust in him.

Start something! Try something New! Let's Begin together! It's good for us!! It's Not easy, but it's worth it!



Take your marks

Hi! My name is Rachel Green. If you are reading this you probably already know that. I am 32 years old. I have been married to my husband Matthew for over 10 years. We have 2 (Amazing) children; Mara 8, Shane 6. I Love Jesus most!!! Happy to be Homeschooling! I use the word Awesome more than anyone else you know! I am lively and energetic. I have No problem making a complete fool outta myself, and do this often. I smile a lot- it can get annoying. I can be obnoxious. I am reliably, Tardy! I am an all or none at all kind of person- to a fault! I think rules make good guidelines. I can hold a grudge and not my tongue. The me without HIM is selfish, surmising and B-chy. I am desperate for His intervention everyday!! Now that you know W.A.Y. to much about me, we will get down to the nitty, gritty! ;)

I have Never been, and will never be a skinny girl. I have been a healthy girl before. I like her! She is not obsessed with a # on the scale. She is not concerned with being a certain size. She can do anything! She rises early with a smile and doesn't rest until she has given her all. She isn't easily irritated by a heavy work load. She realizes that to take the very Best care of the ones she Loves, she has to take care of herself. I am not that girl at the moment.

Right now... I haven't really worked out seriously or consistently in over a year. I am physically unfit and unwell. I don't eat breakfast. I sleep 4-5 hours at night and try to get in a 1-2 hr nap in the afternoon. I have a goiter on my thyroid which requires me to take a prescription medicine everyday in a particular manner (first thing in the am, with a full glass of water, 1hr before eating) and I don't take it. I have 3 ulcers. I "suffer" with a condition that comes from chronic constipation, and delivering huge children. You get the idea.

I have felt burdened about the state of my health for the last few months. Last month, one of my Best friends, Kathie Pagliaro signed up to run a half marathon on behalf of Team World Vision. She is not a runner. As soon as I saw she and her hubby's posts on Facebook about it my heart was pricked. I kept saying to myself, "There is no way I could do it, I don't run, I am so out of shape, My knee will kill me, My hemorrhoids will really kill me, I can't make it to run when the group does...etc." Well, what I say to myself fortunately is not as important as what the Lord says to me. James 2:15-17 "If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone." Team World Vision is working to provide clean drinking water in Africa.www.worldvision.org 

 Last week my grandmother passed away. Obviously this had an impact on me. It was a reminder that our life here on Earth is short, what we do with everyday God grants us is important, and I NEED to take better care of myself. She was 74 years old. Not that old really. The last few years of her life she was unable to do much because of her health. Much of what she suffered from could have been avoided or prevented if she had taken better care of herself, more than that she would have been happier and able to do so much more. I realize that this may sound a little cold, or harsh. Will you take my word for it that I am saying this honestly, heartfelt, and from the perspective of a person in serious self-reflection. I Loved her, many things about her I admire, but I do not want to experience the things she did the last few years of her life.

So, long pause... I signed up! I joined Team World vision. I agreed to run 13.1 miles, a half marathon in February. I have about 13 weeks to train and ready myself for the event. I realize to some reading this a half marathon may not seem like life's biggest challenge or accomplishment. If I am able to do this, to cross the finish line on my own two feet, it may not be my life's biggest accomplishment but, it will have been one of it's biggest challenges. To try to keep my self accountable and in the hopes of gleaning both advice and encouragement along the way I decided to take this journey public. I have a Big mouth, so most of  you will hear all about it anyway. ;) Not exactly sure how this is gonna work since I don't have a fancy phone with any fancy apps that track where, how far or how long I ran. For now you will just have to trust me. Pray for me, pray with me! Pray God will help me stay consistent. Pray for Team World Vision. Pray for those who are thirsty, who do not have clean water to drink, those who will lay down tonight with an empty belly. Pray God will quench the thirst and fill their hearts until the day clean water gets there and sleep comes easily!! 

Hebrews 12:1 "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith."