Yep. I'm gonna give it another try. And I'm gonna blog about it. So, you get to be my witnesses. I think I'm ready to bump it up a notch. I
PART of my life. I think that is important too. I heard a quote a week ago from a pastor on the radio (ugh! can't remember which one). He said, "I am not a BODY with a soul; I am a SOUL with a body." I don't want my focus to be all about my body. I don't want my body or even my health to become an idol. And in our society it is that!!!!!!! So, this is my BALANCE paragraph. I want my exercising to fit into my life. I want it to work with my mothering my family - my husband and boys. I even want it to work into my friends.
When it comes to that, I may have to come back and tweak my goals. I currently have two very good friends that are my WALKING buddies. We are serious WALKERS. We walk 6 miles at a time several times a week. I don't want to lose those commitments - those relationships that have developed through exercise.
For me, exercise is very relational now that I think about it . . . hmmmm, Dale and I jogged ALOT while dating - around downtown Charleston, over the James Island Bridge, on Folly Beach (where he eventually proposed to me). I jogged with baby Ben in his little umbrella stroller all around our first neighborhood and even our second neighborhood after we moved to Anderson (will have to blog about one particular jogging trip where his arm cast fell off and I didn't even know it until an hour later and had to go back and pick it up off the sidewalk).
Our third neighborhood added a second child, a double jogging stroller and a dear friend and her little boy, Carl. Kristen and Carl would meet us on most mornings for a quick stroll around the neighborhood that went longer and longer until we realized we were walking and pushing heavy strollers for 5 - 6 miles! That led to a few jogs and then one jog with just one baby in the stroller that equalled 9 miles. THAT is what led to the half marathon.
Around this time, Dale and I started working out at a small friendly gym with a guy, Tony, that was one of Dale's patients and had been trying to get him to come "train" for some time. I trained with his wife, Shelia. About the same time, I started walking with a neighbor from our current neighborhood, Karen. We walked most mornings after dropping off our kids at school for an entire school year - two years ago. And then their school situation changed. Then Shelia's situation changed and I swapped and started training with Tony too. Last year was a year of walking with a friend from church, Sarah, as well as working out with Tony. Somewhere in there I messed up my knew - tore or damaged my meniscus. It was scary to think I might not be able to exercise - might not be able to run or walk.
In between all this history, I have little jaunts of jogging 3 - 5 miles, but I haven't done that in a while. This blog isn't about weight, but just one little input - with all the working out and walking, I haven't seen a change in the weight. That is more than just a little discouraging. It's frustrating. It's maddening. It doesn't add up. The weight bothers me enough, though, to give it
Blogging is such a good thing. I'm thinking this out on paper as well as "talking" it over with my friends and family. I would really like your input and suggestions. Dale has been in the same boat with me, but he has stuck with training with Tony two times a week. I have just recently gone to just exercising with Sarah and Elizabeth and I have a few other options to tap into. I think I am trying to find something I can do with Dale and in some ways, I don't want to pass him up. But then again, I feel like he has done the same for me. He has watched my struggle with weight and exercise and I wonder if he might not be holding back so he doesn't blow right past me. Health wise we are both in dire straights and exercise doesn't seem to have made much of a difference.
My other options I have considered are racquetball. I played casual racquetball in college and LOVED it!! I would need to find someone to play with. My other idea is tennis. There is a tennis court next to Dale's office. It seems to be a relational game and it is outdoors (in the sunshine).
Okay, so there it is. March 11, 2011. I started running again. I'm thinking about trying a triathlon (love swimming, don't hate running, not crazy about road biking - might be riding a yellow beach bike for that part), or signing up for a half marathon. But I don't want it to become a one time thing. I want to take it up a notch in a way that fits into my life, into my family, into my ministry.
PS. I love spellcheck!!
3 comments:
Good for you! That’s a great commitment, and I pray that you will be able (physically) to continue running.
Might I suggest a 5K first? Two reasons why:
~ If a congregant came to me and told me that they hadn’t read their Bibles with any regularity for several years, but had decided to commit to a “read through the Bible in a year” program, I might similarly encourage them to start with a commitment to read daily (or at least regularly) through an entire single book of the Bible over the course of a month. Sometimes we have to build up to these things.
~ I’m fairly concerned about the amount of time, energy, and focus that marathon and triathlon training demands on a whole family, not just on the participant. There are some stages of life where I think it is approachable, but others (e.g., families with young children) where I wonder if it is imprudent.
Again, I’m excited for you in your renewed commitment to exercise and running. Take it easy and work up to increasingly bigger goals.
Thank you, Ed, for your concern.
First, my "young" kids aren't so young anymore. My youngest is an "old" 8. Meaning he is growing up with 2 older brothers that he adores. He does get out of school at 12:30 still (which is unusual but that will be over next year). I do my exercising in the morning after I drop them off.
I am already committing the time 1 1/2 to 2 hours 3 to 4 days a week - it's just that I am currently doing a fast walk.
As to the 5K suggestion. That is a good one, by the goal seems too reachable from my history with running and my current exercise routine. A 5k is 3ish miles and I ran/walked 4 yesterday.
The triathlons I have looked into are small(and I don't see myself going for anything bigger than small). The "marathons" would only be a half marathon. I have looked into the training for a half marathon and for most days they suggest smaller runs with a rest day in between and only a few long runs usually with the race day being the longest.
And my last informational response to your concerns is my health. Despite my current commitment to moderate exercise, I continue to hold 50 extra pounds. This could be due to the antidepressant I take - which is not optional (I have tried going off and using exercise instead as some experts suggest - didn't work for me - was running at the time). Or it could be due to low thyroid - which my endocrinologist is currently working on raising my thyroid levels - though they are within normal limits - however, I have had numerous symptoms of low thyroid since they removed 1/2 my thyroid in 1998. Those excuses being made, I still have very high cholesterol and high blood pressure. My physical health looks bleak.
Dale and I are in the same boat, so in some sense, this is a family affair. 1. We want to live to see our kids grow up and get married and have kids. 2. We both need to do something - we are both considering the small triathlons, he hates to run because it hurts his feet, but he did just get new shoes from Fleet Feet in Greenville. We did run when we were dating, but he has had bunion surgery since, so I don't know if it is possible for him.
Thank you for your concern. Let me know if my added information changed any of your thoughts.
Annette
We can dooo it!
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