I did 4 miles today. I wanted to try out my trail running shoes, so I did the dirt road twice. I'm not too sure about my new shoes. My feet and my shins hurt a little bit as I started out and my feet felt heavy. I walked and ran. I made myself run uphill the second time around. Everytime I came to a hill, I made myself run if I was walking and run harder if I was jogging. It was a good exercise in perseverance. The weather was beautiful, but my legs felt sluggish. I also did more sprints in my time today. I would sprint, then walk a bit, then sprint again, usually uphill. I liked the challenge. By the end of my walk/run, my feet felt better, but I don't know who helped me walk up that last hill. It was like an out-of-body experience. I didn't feel anything. Oh well, at least I got it done! Hope my shoes get more comfortable. My Eccos felt better on the dirt road that these did today. We'll see.

Shamefully, I skipped breakfast (which might have been my energy problem). Here's what I have had today so far:

coffee/cream 50 cal

sandwich thin w/ cheese 180 cal

blueberries (25) 20 cal

Water, water, water (4-5 glasses so far)

God went ahead of me in some shopping I had to do today. I am so excited! I have been researching running shoes for about a week now. I knew that my Ecco shoes were breaking down (I've really used them too long) because the inside of my left foot began to ache as well as my heel on my left foot.

I also was intrigued by the iPod nano thing that Nike has going to keep track of your runs and you can make friends, etc. I was excited about maybe finding a pair of Nike shoes to do this.

So today I went to the store with a list of shoes to look for. I was in the market to buy two pairs of running shoes: one for the pavement and one for the dirt road. I felt that I needed more support on the dirt road. I looked up stores in our area that carry Nike and when I got there, they were out of business. I guess we don't have an official "running" store????? So I headed across the street to Academy Sports.

I was looking for the women's running shoes and went down every aisle. When I was on the clearance aisle (looking for the right aisle because they have changed things around), there was one of the Nike shoes on my list. So I picked it up to look at it so I would know what to look for when I found the right aisle and would you believe it?! It was a size 9!!!! My size!!!! They are $90 shoes and I got them for $39!!!! God is so kind!

Smiling I headed out to look for the trail shoes I wanted. They carried one close to the one I was looking for and I bought both pairs of shoes for less than what I paid for my Eccos (which I loved by the way). I was, no AM, so excited! God has a way of giving us small gifts like that and I am soooo appreciative!

Next I was looking for an iPod Nano. I have a big iPod which my loving hubby bought me for my trip to England a few years back, but it won't fit into my pockets when I run. I wanted something smaller. My daughter has a Nano, but it is a 2GB and I really wanted at least an 8GB. So off I go to price an iPod Nano. I called sweet hubby to talk about prices and what I was finding. Then he says, "I have points on my card. Let me see if I have enough for an iPod." He called me back and God did it again! He had 30,000 points and a 16GB iPod Nano is 28,000. We didn't have to pay anything! I couldn't wait to get home with all of my goodies and go run!

Of course, I don't have my Nano yet. It was ordered today, but I am putting my songlists together and I did run in my new shoes today (2.5 miles). They felt great! My toes didn't fall asleep. The inside of my left foot didn't hurt. I think the pavement ones are a great fit for me. Tomorrow I will try out the trail ones on the dirt road.

My run was a little slow today, but I was out there. I waited too late in the day to run, but I had to get out of the house early today. It was only 75 degrees, but I felt it in my breathing. I think I will have to learn to run earlier. I usually reserve my early time of day for me and the Lord, but I might have to work in a good run in there somehow. I'll let ya know how it goes.

Thank You, Lord, for my gifts today. Now help me press on!

Perseverance

I went out for my walk/run today. Last week I noticed that my shoes had broken down some in the arch/heel areas because my feet hurt last Wednesday and Thursday when I ran. Because of things going on, I knew I wouldn't be able to get new shoes before this week.

So today I went out, knowing that I would just walk today. I walked and walked. I knew I would have to walk longer in order to get the calories burned, but I didn't anticipate walking for almost 90 minutes, but that's what happened. I had much wrestling with the Lord to do and needed the encouragement that Sovereign Grace music gave to me through my iPod.

Walking out here in the country means that I will usually either walk/run the pavement which usually takes 3 times around to get 2.5 miles. That is usually my goal: 2-3 miles. If I decide to walk to the mailbox, I have to walk on the dirt road which is all uphill from my house TO the mailbox, but mostly downhill on the way back. That is, after you finish the "big hill." The "big hill" is the hill that is right after you pull through our gate. It is about 500-600 feet long, but pretty steep. I usually have to do some mental games to get myself up the hill. About halfway up, I long to take a break, but try to make myself just take the next step. Just keep moving.

Once I am at the top, I feel so ready to start my run and I run all the way home. It is almost a mile down to the mailbox and a mile back, so I can get in 2 miles from "doing the dirt road" one time. And it is a good walk/run because of the hills.

While I was on the walk today, my FIL drove by very slowly. When he reached me, he rolled down his window and asked me, "Do you want me to stir up some dust?" He was kind and drove slowly so that I didn't have to walk through dust.

All of this had me thinking. Last week was a week that brought some storms into my life spiritually. I have been on the edge of despairing for a few days now, being very discouraged. As I walked today, rehearsing the verse that God keeps taking me back to about His strength being made perfect in my weakness, I found Him revealing other truths about my life right now.

Some days we can't run spiritually, can we? We are discouraged or tired, weakened by attacks from Satan or sin. But that doesn't mean I have to quit. My spirit today would like to lie in bed, feeling sorry for myself, but God calls me to persevere. Today my body needed exercise even though I couldn't run. I just had to take the next step and do the next thing: walk. Just keep moving. Just keep seeking the Lord even when I desire to quit. Just keep letting Him move me when I don't feel like moving.

Then when I got to the hill and once again I wanted to stop in the middle, halfway up, instead I walked a zigzag up the hill so that I could keep going. It was a different way to walk, a bit of a different route to take, but I just kept going. Kept persevering. Often God's path to spiritual growth looks very different from what we plan, desire or expect. But it is still the path to spiritual growth. I was still going up the hill, eventually reaching the top. I need to keep walking God's path, as much as He shows me each day, eventually reaching heaven! What a day that will be!

Today I found myself looking down a lot. Like on the big hill, I never look up to see where I am headed. It makes me weak. I look at the ground, at the next step. It reminded me that God gives me grace for today. He doesn't ask me to extend faith for next week or next year, but today, in what He shows me and gives to me, I am to respond in faith. And usually I find that that is just doing the next step. Elizabeth Elliot when talking about how she endured her husband's murder by the Indians he was desiring to reach for the Lord, said she just got up and "did the next thing." It was how she coped. Today I just took the next step in front of me to reach the top. Spiritually, I am asking the Lord to help me take the next step that He asks of me and shows me in order to reach maturity in Christ and eventually glorification in heaven. I so long to receive the crown of glory and hear Him say to me, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

There were bigger rocks on the path today. I am not sure if it was because of recent rain or the fact that my son has been trying to use shale to fill pot holes on the road. Once I stumbled on a new rock, but caught myself before falling. Application to me: there will be obstacles on the path to holiness. There will be stumbling blocks that tempt us to despair and give up. But God calls us to press on. If we fall, get up and call on Him to help us again to move forward.

And dust. Well, there will be things, situations or people that "stir up dust" on our journey. How will we deal with it? If I were on the road and dust was stirred up, I would have to wait til it settled. Sometimes we just have to wait on the Lord to move. We have to wait on His timing which is perfect. We have to wait for Him to show us the next step because it seem so unclear.

Right now a lot of things seem so unclear. I don't know what it is about deep, soul pain that makes it difficult for me to think clearly, but it is true. I long to think clearly, but it seems that today all I can do is quote Scripture to myself because I can't even process what I think I need to. Maybe God doesn't need me to process it. Maybe He just desires me to cling to Him and His Word. Keep going back there over and over again so that I am speaking to myself instead of listening to myself. I just feel this heavy fog over my head and I just can't seem to know or understand or discern.

So I will wait on Him. I will cling to the Scripture that He continues to give to me. I will remember that He says this: "My grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in your weakness.......when you are weak, then I am strong." (2 Cor. 12:9-10)

Lord, help me to keep walking even when I am used to running and want to crawl into bed. Help me just keep walking by faith.

I went out and walked a second time down the dirt road to the mailbox. Just needed more time with the Lord, listening to Shannon Wexelberg. Total mileage today: 6.33 miles.

Another great run today down the dirt road. I was hoping to catch the sun peeking it's shiny head out from behind the clouds, but it didn't happen while I ran/walked. Lydia went with her on her bike. It was nice and steady. The strength is showing in my endurance and in my pressing on at a faster pace when my mind wants to quit. My time was a bit better today, too. Time is not so important to me, though. The longer I am out there, the more calories I am burning, right? So I'm okay if it takes me a while. :)

Eating is going really well and I feel so much better. Just this morning Wade was talking about how much better I am sleeping. I am sleeping like a log every night. I think it is because of three things: 1) daily exercise, 2) eating healthier (doesn't bother my reflux), and 3) taking my reflux meds daily in the morning. I am enjoying sleeping well and feeling totally refreshed when I get up at 5am each morning.

I weigh in tomorrow for my first week of eating/exercising on my way to healthier, but also losing. I'll report in tomorrow.

Great run today! I haven't been on our dirt road for a while because of all of the snow and rain. It was just too muddy. But today I was needing some outside sunshine time with the Lord and decided to walk to the mailbox (which is all uphill) and run back. I was not winded at all and felt that I could go on for a while. It was a good 2 mile walk/run.

Power 90 is still going strong three times a week. I am feeling much stronger on my ab workout and push ups, too. I hope to see inches lost when I measure next.

Thank You, Lord, for the sunshine. It was so needed today.

I actually got up early to run this morning. I thought I was going to head into town this morning, but sweet hubby took Grant to the b-day party for me instead. However, when I thought I was going to be going into town, I got dressed to run on the treadmill, then thought, "oh, head outside." I did inspite of the wind which my ears hate. It was a good run, though short. I felt stronger and again was able to run faster.

Yesterday my two girls did the Power 90 sculpt routine with me. I have been doing it every other day, but they joined me. It was good to see them working out with weights so early in the morning. We are all forming new habits.

We have bought cokes in the past year except on special occasions. I don't really like carbonated drinks, but used to buy them for my kids. Finally woke up to the fact that there was NOTHING good about buying.........spent money on them and they were horrible for them. We also have not been buying chips lately. This has been hard for the kids, but they are adjusting and eating way more fruit and nuts for snacks. I did buy some organic chips (still not that great for you) as a treat this weekend.

I am feeling so good. The scale is slow to move, but I measured this week and we'll see if the inches begin to come off soon. That is usually such an encouragement to me!

So right now, my routine is Power 90 sculpt (weights) M/W/F with a little bit of cardio and T/Th/S more cardio (30-60 min). Everyday I do push ups and sit ups. I can tell I am getting stronger. It shows in my running and in my breathing. There is nothing like running for getting fit. At least for me, there has been nothing like it.

Still pressing toward the mark. I have an accountability partner now which is nice. Today was a good day on the treadmill. I ran further and faster. I ran two laps at a time at 5.4 mph and then would walk a lap at 3.7-4 mph with an incline of 3-4. It felt great and I felt like I could keep going. Nothing hurt today. I also did my Power 90 ab workout and push ups. Feeling stronger everyday.

I am also eating more fruits and veggies and I feel the effects. I feel less "heavy" if you know what I mean. Praying for diligence and continuance on this journey toward health.