RUN ANYWAY

My training plan is basically,

• Sunday--rest day
• Monday--RUN and personal training session
• Tuesday--walk
• Wednesday--RUN
• Thursday--walk
• Friday--personal training session
• Saturday--RUN

Here's a run down of my week so far (sorry for the pun!). 

Last Friday I had a full hour training session, rather than my usual half-hour, and my trainer worked me hard.  It was all strength training starting from lower body to upper body and finishing up with core.  The workout started with a series of sumo squats, single leg step-ups and then single leg presses.  The next morning, Saturday, my glutes were sore.  I wimpered thinking about the fact that I was supposed to run that day.  Somewhere in the back of my mind I remembered hearing that cardio work helps to work muscle soreness out, so, even though I was in pain, I decided to RUN ANYWAY.  I went 2.52 miles (run/walk) averaging 15:46 per mile.  I thought I did pretty good under less than ideal circumstances.  I wondered what I could do on a day when I felt better?

On Monday I did feel better, but knowing I had a personal training session following my run, should I hold back?  No, RUN ANYWAY!  I went 2.24 miles (more running than walking) averaging a faster pace of 14:46 per mile.

Then came Wednesday...a scheduled running day, and it was raining.  My trainer challenged me previously, "Even if it's raining I want you running outside, because come race day, rain or shine, you're going."  I really didn't want to run in the rain, especially after the day I was already having.  The morning was a very stressful work day, then I had to go for my regular dental cleaning and exam (no cavities, yeah!), and still the rain rain rain came down down down.  A blustery day.  I decided I wanted to run on a different part of Douglas Trail for some different scenery about five miles away.  I was stopped at a stop light and really tempted to text my trainer a whiny message, "I don't wanna run in the rain!"  Sigh...I knew I'd regret it if I didn't.  RUN ANYWAY!

I asked God to hold off the rain during my run, and He kindly had mercy on me.  The rain did stop.  I set my iPod to my workout playlist and hit shuffle, and the first song just so happened to be Misty Edwards' "My Soul Longs for You" with a driving chorus of "Let it Rain!  Let it Rain!  Let it Rain!"  Something rose up within me and I thought, "Bring it on!  Let it Rain!  I'm going to RUN ANYWAY!"  And in spite of the fact that I didn't want to run, I ended up setting a personal record by going 2.14 miles averaging under 14 minute miles, and in the last 1/2 mile I ran at a 12 minute/mile pace!

I know as I continue this journey towards a marathon, I will have many more challenges and many more excuses not to press through the discomfort.  Everyone who is training goes through similar situations, some more challenging than others.  I've even heard about people running marathons while going through chemotherapy.  Thinking about that begs the question, "What do I have to complain about?"

RUN ANYWAY!!!

What the Heck Am I Doing?

Have you ever felt out of place, like you didn't belong?  Awkward?  Uncomfortable in a situation?  I think everybody has experienced this at one time or another.  What do you do during these times?  You RUN as fast as you can out of that situation! 

What do you do if running makes you feel out of place, awkward, and uncomfortable?

Yesterday I ran 3.02 miles on the treadmill at the gym after an intense upper body strength workout.  I wanted to experience what 3 miles felt like in preparation for my first 5K race in a few weeks.  It took me 50 minutes, and I didn't die.  I know the time I have to beat and the pace I need to run to cross the finish line in a respectable amount of time, and as I'm writing these words I feel like I'm talking about someone else.  It's almost ridiculous.  All of this is so far outside of the realm of how I identify myself.  I don't know how to form thoughts around the subject of running, all I know is that I just need to keep running.

This process is a deep, personal and challenging journey the LORD called me to.  No person could have inspired me to begin to run.  I feel like a switch was turned on in a hidden room within my being bringing light to a part of myself that I never knew was there.  I was talking to my pastor over the weekend, and he made the statement, "Rebecca, I think you can...no, you're going to do it!"  I'm going to run a marathon.

I can't get away from it.  Everywhere I look I see tokens of running marathons.  I see oval stickers on some cars "26.2."  A few weeks ago I wouldn't have known that that is the official distance of a marathon.  I notice runners out on the roads and trails and marvel at how graceful they look.  Even in studying Hebrew, the textbook has phrases to translate like: "Will you run in the marathon this week?" "More than 38,000 people ran in the Boston Marathon."

Many years ago I asked myself the question, "What if God calls me to a hard place?"  The answer I experienced over and over again is that if God calls me He will supply the grace.  All He asks of me is to trust Him, and He has never disappointed me.  God has called me to hard places and put me in many awkward moments.  Each one has revealed an aspect of God's love, grace, mercy and faithfulness, and has also helped me to stretch and grow and change to become the woman God intended me to be.

So, the answer to "What the Heck Am I Doing?" is...

I am wholeheartedly following after the leading of the LORD in every aspect of my life, and I'm trusting Him to reveal the lessons He wants to teach and to form His nature and character in me.  I recently listened to a marathon podcast.  The speaker was talking about a group of people she's seen in various marathons wearing shirts stating "Team 4:13" in reference to Phillippeans 4:13...

Yes, I am strong enough!

Building a Base

Start where you are rather than where you want to be. 

I understand that before I can even think about training for a marathon I need to be running 3-5 miles 3 times per week for 3-6 months.  That sounds do-able, doesn't it?  Yeah, until I actually put my feet to the pavement and run.  I just came back from a 1.74 mile "run."  Okay it was 50% run/walk on an 80+ degree day after having only about 3 hours of intermittant sleep last night.  My goal today was to run a mile in faster time than I did last week.  Didn't quite make it, but I didn't bomb out either.  I didn't go as fast, but I went a 1/4 mile longer and burned more calories this time, and if I can do that under less than optimal conditions wait until I get into better shape!  Measuring progress not perfection, and I've definitely progressed.  No reason at all to feel discouraged, quite the contrary.  I'm amazed at the change in my perspective.

It's ony been one week since I became a runner.  Yes, I am a runner!  Got the cute running shorts and neon green-laced running shoes to prove it.  For years I was discouraged, okay intimidated by running because I don't look like a runner, and I don't run very fast.  So what?!  I'm out there on the trail huffing and puffing and heaving, but I'm running farther than I ever have in my entire life.  Not only am I amazed at my change in perspective, I'm amazed at my change in desire.  I never imagined that I would want to literally run a race.  I'm savoring each moment of this process, even thought I'm not sure where it's going to lead.  Across the finish line?  Yes, that, but there's more that God desires to develop in me before this journey is complete.

"Then the LORD answered me and said, 'Record the vision and inscribe it on tablets [i.e. write a blog!] that the one who reads it may run.  For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal and it will not fail.  Though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay.'"  Hab 2:2-3

There will always be people who finish before me, and there will be people who finish after me.  The important thing is that I'm in the race and no longer just a spectator on the sidelines.

I need the courage to face my weaknesses and fears head-on.  Admit them.  Acknowledge them.  Then conquer them by the grace of God working in me.  Paul had to come to terms with the thorn, and so do I.  God didn't remove the thorn; He simply said, "My grace is sufficient."

I HATE RUNNING

The journey of 26.2 miles begins with 1.51 miles.

Yes, it's true.  I HATE RUNNING!  So, why in the heck am I planning on running a marathon next year?  Here's the beginning of the story...

On Saturday, May 28, 2011 I was out walking with my three-year-old son.  I prayed as we walked, as I normally do.  While I was praying I heard the LORD say, "You're stronger than you know."  I was pondering that statement and kept envisioning myself running in a race.  As I continued to ponder myself running in a race I began to weep.  I could see myself crossing the finish line, and I've never wanted anything more.  I understood that this race I envisioned was not symbolic.  The Lord was calling me to run a marathon as He wants to "unlock a strength in me that will surprise many."

As a kid, I was the fat girl who was always picked last for teams.  I wasn't interested in sports, but I played softball while in grades 4-6.  My father wondered why I even wanted to play softball, and then he realized...I was doing it for him.  He was right.  My father was a baseball fan, and I believed that if I played softball it would help me connect with him (I always felt like I was the biggest disappointment in his life because I wasn't a boy).  It didn't work very well because I wasn't that good, and I felt his embarrassment.  Sadly, he passed away when I was twelve years old, and I never had the father/daughter relationship I longed for.

The years passed, and I grew up to be a rather insecure woman, obese (at one point tipping the scale at 240 lbs.), sedentary, and very depressed.  There was a turning point.  By God's grace I fought back against the forces that were holding me down and holding me back from being the woman God intended me to be.  I went through counseling, grew more in my faith, lost about 50 lbs., and met my Dear Hubby, who introduced me to weight lifting and biking, which I grew to love.  However, achieving my ideal of healthy fitness alluded me.

Over the past ten years, we've endured the loss of my mother and both of my husband's parents, and we celebrated the birth of our children.  All good excuses for letting myself go. 

With the birth of my daughter I went through significant baby blues that lasted throughout the first year of her life.  I firmly believe that this bout of depression was due to sleep deprivation and lack of exercise and good nutrition.  One day, my husband couldn't stand it anymore and he said, "Go join a gym, and start exercising again.  You'll feel better."  So, I joined a gym and hired a personal trainer.

That was three months ago.  I am stronger and happier than I've felt in a long time, and with the vision of myself crossing the finish line, and hearing God say, "You're stronger than you know" I have the motivation to push forward. 

My trainer said the best thing for me to do is to simply start running.  So, I bought a pair of running shoes, downloaded the RunKeeper app on my iPhone, and I set out to run, and on June 1, 2011 I ran a whole mile non-stop for the first time in my life!