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Tidbits of Us

I am the wife of an amazing man, seeking hard after God's will for his family, and the mother of 3 beautiful little girls and a 4th baby lost in pregnancy, who all pull at my heartstrings continually. Life has been a whirlwind since our wedding in 2008, including seminary, adventures in camp ministry, missions in Kosovo, and countless moves and God's fingerprints are throughout it all. We are blessed and encouraged that He is equipping us continually for the ministry ahead and pray we are great stewards to all he has entrusted to us, in family, friends, ministry, finances, and of course, the gospel.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Couch to 5K in 9 weeks!! Crazy, right!?!

If anyone knows me just a little, even just a teeny tiny bit... they know I DON'T run. I don't jog, I may even be hesitant to power walk. I use to tell people that Jonah ran from God and ended up in the belly of a whale, therefore, running is BAD! I did try the cross country thing for a little bit the very beginning of 9th grade, but something is a little jacked up with my left knee, and now and then it causes minor issues. I think it happened from falling out of a bunk bed at camp when I was little. I also ran into the problem of not eating due to the vigorous workouts every morning, unable to eat before training and too tired to eat after, so I'd go on very little food, and eventually with all of it combined, my body was falling into similarities of anorexia, which can still cause some issues now, if I'm not eating regularly. So, all that to say... no, I don't run.

However, I am goal oriented. Perfect, recent example, Angry Birds!! Aaron has an iphone for work and I have a few simple and brainless games on it, but nothing I'd really play a lot. He was so sweet to inform me he heard of a game from someone at work that I would like, and it was $1, so we downloaded it... thus, "Angry Birds" took over so sneakily... At first it was just a desire to beat all the levels, but then it was to get all the golden eggs, however, some golden eggs are only achievable if you get three stars on ALL the levels in each "world". So then I had to go back and get better scores on all the levels I didn't have three stars!! Then I discovered their are "achievements". Fortunately, before I discovered this, I already had 80% of them. My point is, there is nothing great about angry birds. You can throw a bird 5 times and all five times the bricks or stones or whatever will all fall differently. It's arbitrary and lacks skill or strategy. However, there are thinks you can accomplish, such as beating all levels, getting all the golden eggs, three stars, etc. And as I kept discovering these things, I kept playing. Why? Because I am competitive, and goal oriented. If there really isn't a measurable and tangible goal, I'm not motivated or interested.

Notice, I said measurable and tangible goal. You can tell me to work out for the goal of getting in shape. Right. How well has that worked out for me so far, and for most of you reading this. We all know it's great for you and your lifestyle, but how many of us does that motivate. As of lately I have been feeling the "fat" feeling. Of course, every girl knows, if you feel "fat" for too long, it's accompanied by it's dear friend "ugly". So, "fat" and "ugly" have been trying to hang out around my mirrors lately, and as much as Aaron tries to encourage me, or as many new cute shirts I buy, It's still there. Not to mention the PILE of jeans and dress pants I still can't fit into, 10 months after giving birth.

I've known about the "couch to 5K" program for a while, however, "motivation" was out of town. But, he heard that "fat" and "ugly" were hanging around and has decided to end his little vacation. So, after a few weeks of thinking about it, I finally decided to get going with it. There are great websites for it as well. You can just google it, or go to www.c25K.com which has GREAT links for everything. One of the first links is for the cool runnings website, where you can find the exact program. They also have a log for you to keep your info and such but it costs. But it has the workout plans for the whole 9 weeks on the bottom of the main page for that link. It's really super easy too. There are only 3 workouts a week, but of course you can do it more if you'd like. And they are only 30 minutes. Week one is simply a 5 minute warm up brisk walk, followed by cycles of 1 minute jogging and 2 minutes walking for 20 minutes. Finishing up with a 5 minute walking cool down. You basically end up doing the running/walking cycles 8 times. To make if even better, there are tons of podcasts out there that are free, and for this program. Some have music and some guy comes on now and then to tell you to walk or run, and others only have the voice. You can open your itunes and go to podcasts and search for couch to 5K and they will pop up. I found one that's a "Christian Indie" broadcast. It's free to subscribe and there are programs for every different routine for the couch to 5K program. So you don't even have to watch the clock while your doing the workouts, it's all done for you!! Definitely no excuse now!! So I put it on my ipod and went to the track, with little Maddie in tow.

After the first two cycles of running, I was already doubting this was going to happen today. But when the 4th running cycle started, I realized I was about to be at the half way mark. Great motivation. Not only that, but the music was GREAT!!! I can't emphasize that enough!! It was wonderful and motivating, and I couldn't help but get my focus on God and asking for his help and motivation. I LOVE music to begin with, and I really don't listen to it like I did in college, and Christian music, as cliche as some of it can be, really encourages my spirit a lot! And it really really did today! REALLY!!! So, all that to say, I did it!! I felt so great! Even after the last bit was done, he played one last song and I WANTED to go around the track one more time!! I was even tempted to do it in a jog... but figured I needed to cool down before heading back home. I'm actually excited to go again tomorrow. Of course, we will see how that plays out, as all new things loose their luster, but I have motivation by my side, and fat and ugly need to be put at bay. Not only that, the program is completely done for me, the podcast is free and breaks it down just right, and the guy on the podcast even gives encouragement. The program is broken down in easy, measurable and tangible goals, and the music is super motivating and constantly reminds me that my real motivation is God and keeping his temple in the best condition I can, as well as being a good model for my little girl and a super hottie for my husband!! No excuse now. All I have to do is grab Madison, the stroller, and my ipod. Good stuff!!

I completely recommend this for those who "don't run" but need to be a little better about keeping in shape, and I'd love to know if your going to do it too!! I will loose the motivation as the weeks go by, I am sure, and it will be greatly encouraging to know there are others out there with me, and we can encourage each other. Today is the start of week one, and in 9 weeks I hope I'm blogging about running my first 5K, nonstop!! Won't that be amazing!!

3 comments:

  1. Yeah, I need to get on that bandwagon for sure! :) If only you and I had the same schedule...then we could do it together.

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  2. I should so do this too...I did my first run sine Otto's birth last week. It'd be fun.

    Are you going to be here in 9 weeks?

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  3. No, I won't Jessica, but I'm starting it now. If you want to run with me at any time, just let me know!! If I do it during the day, I'm aiming for 11, perfect time to get back and feed Maddie and put her down for a nap. I also have Tues, Wed, and Friday evenings!

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