Monday, March 23, 2009

Days Seven & Eight of the Miles for Monika Challenge

Time Frame: 2 Weeks
Group Goal: 181 Miles
Personal Goal: 30 Miles
Personal Total: 12.8 Miles

Day Seven - I flat ran out of time in the day to workout. Do you ever find that there is just not enough time in the day to fit in one more thing? This was one of those days, so I'll confess that I didn't even make it on the treadmill to try and do a little workout. I was too tired by the end of the night.

Day Eight of the M4M Challenge - Great! Some of my walking buddies and I met at the BBR for a quick walk around the park. I have to say that I was feeling much more confident in my walking after Saturday's workout. I had a meeting at 7:00 tonight, but knew I would have plenty of time to add a few laps to my usual walk. We added two more laps to our usual 5 which added 8/10 of a mile to our walk. I think those extra two laps could become our usual - depending on time.

Overall, I'm quite happy with my progress on this challenge. I know that I will really be pushing it at the end to meet my personal goal for the challenge, but that's ok. I've walked 12.8 miles in the past week which is 12.8 miles more than I walked the weeks before. Now if I could just get my eating on track, I'd be quite happy.

Be blessed everyone!

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Days Five & Six of the Miles for Monika Challenge

Time Frame: 2 weeks
Group Goal: 181 miles
Personal Goal: 30 miles
Personal Total: 10 miles

There's really not much to be said for Day 5 of M4M. I'm going to consider Friday as my rest day. Between work and dinner at the in-laws' house, I didn't really have time to do much of anything on the treadmill or at the park. The rest was nice, though. It helped me feel refreshed and ready for my Saturday morning walk.

This morning (Saturday) my walking group and I had planned to walk at River Legacy Park in Arlington, but that didn't work out. Since Charles had planned on taking Charlie with him to his office this morning, I went ahead and took advantage of the alone time to go walk at the BBR. Generally when I walk with Charlie and the walking group we have to take at least one potty break for the kiddos, so it was nice just to be able to keep going. It was an absolutely beautiful morning in God's creation. The ducks around the lake were fun to watch and the Lord seemed to provide me with a little wind to refresh me when I was getting sluggish.

Normally I walk about 2 miles or 5 laps around the lake during the week, but today I wanted to double my distance and did 10 laps around the lake. Since I've been wondering what my pace is, I decided to time myself. Each lap around the lake is 4/10 of a mile. I did my first lap in 9 minutes and my second in about 8. As the park started getting busier, I found myself having to dodge ducks and kids on bikes but it wasn't too bad. I fully expected to do the 4 miles in 2 hours, but actually finished up in about 84 minutes. I'm pretty proud of my time. The first 2 miles I did in 44 minutes, and the second 2 miles I did in 40 minutes. That's an average of a 21 minute mile. I'm pretty pleased with that, but I want to keep working on it.

I was worried about going out to walk by myself today. After I got the call last night that no one was going to be able to make it I thought about just sleeping in, but I'm really glad I didn't. The M4M is really pushing me to want to reach my goal. When you get used to walking with a group, you start to rely on them to keep you going and set the pace. I found that my pace alone was quite a bit better than with the group. And I was able to set my own pace (with the help of music) and motivate myself to keep going. Actually, walking alone turned out to be a great time of reflection and even prayer at times. It was quite nice.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Day Four of the Miles for Monika Challenge

Time Frame: 2 weeks
Group Goal: 181 miles
Personal Goal: 30 miles
Personal Total: 6.0 miles

When it rains...Last night Charlie had a reaction to the antibiotic that the doctor prescribed for him in the ER on Sunday night. Now I'm not a doctor by any means, but if I tell the doctor that I've never taken penicillin because both of my parents, siblings, and grandparents are allergic to it, then wouldn't you think there is a rather good possibility that my child is going to be allergic to it. The doctor was not convinced by this argument and prescribed it anyways. Oh well. Lesson learned. Praise God that it was only a mild reaction to the medication and now we know for next time that he IS allergic to penicillin. And then after being fine all day (and at the doctor's office), Charlie's fever spikes to 102.3 at his friend's house no less. He seems fine tonight now that he's on his new antibiotic.

I just have to say that God is so awesome! His provisions for me and my family are astounding. He even cares about the smallest details of my life. Even in the craziness and chaos, He has been my peace. I cherish the little calms within the storm.When I look back at things, I think God is telling me to slow down a little and not rush so much. I've been rushing a lot lately and not living life as intentionally as I would like (that's for a another blog).

Well Day Four of the Miles for Monika Challenge wasn't quite as I'd hoped, but I did manage to find 30 minutes to jump on the treadmill this morning and get a mile in. Right now I'm focusing on mileage, but in the future I would really like to work on my pace. I know that for being about 100 pounds overweight walking a 30 minute mile is actually pretty good, but I felt that this pace on the treadmill might have been a little slow. I think I might actually do a little better than this when I'm at the park walking with my group. I really haven't timed it. I'd love to be able to do a 18-20 minute mile. I'm wondering how people set their own pace when they are not on the treadmill. Usually when I'm walking with a group (especially my good friend AmyJo), she sets the pace and I'm pretty much able to keep up with it. If I plan to do any races, I know I'm going to have to be able to set the pace myself. So how do people do it?

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Day Three of the Miles for Monika Challenge

Time Frame: 2 weeks
Group Total: 181 miles
Personal Goal: 30 miles
Personal Total: 5.0 miles

This is going to be a quick post since I have a husband and little boy who are waiting on me to watch a movie. I have great news on the Miles for Monika Challenge. The group of runners/walkers not only have met the goal of 181 miles, but they have surpassed it in just the first two days of the challenge. How awesome is that? I think it's a great way for everyone to show Monika what an inspiration she is.

It's great to be out walking again. I wish the weather could be like this all the time. It is perfect for walks at the park. I'm really happy that I've been able to get two consistent days of walking in with my wacky schedule this week. Tomorrow I have an evening meeting, so I know that I'm going to have to jump on the treadmill at some point. I don't always do well on the treadmill with walking. I enjoy being out in the elements doing my walks, but oh well. I would like to say that I will do the 2.5 miles that we've done at the park, but I'm not sure how long I will last on the "hamster wheel". But the point is - I'm going to try!

Ignite - May 2nd

Just putting this post out here about Ignite happening in Burleson on May 2nd. Besides having some great bands, it looks like an exciting opportunity for us to come together as Christ-followers and people and support a great cause -justice. True justice is something that is at the very heart of our Lord.


cwbanner

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Day Two of the Miles for Monika Challenge

Day Two of the Miles for Monika Challenge:
Time frame: 2 weeks
Group goal: 181 miles
Personal goal: 30 miles
Personal total: 2.5 miles
I have been friends with one of the most fabulous women, Monika, since high school. She is one of those people that if she wasn't so sweet and awesome that you'd be totally jealous of her - she has a successful career, she is multi-talented, a great cook and cake designer, and an incredible athlete. You get the point. Well Monika is having surgery this week to remove a cyst from her chest and won't be able to do one of the things she loves the most for quite awhile - RUN. Her friend Kelsey came up with this fantastic idea of organizing Miles for Monika.

This was just the motivation that I've been looking for to get my big behind off the couch and get moving. Everyone's miles that they run/jog/walk/hike in the next two weeks counts toward the group goal of 181 miles (the amount of miles Monika ran in two months to win her latest Nike challenge). I missed day one of the challenge because of meetings for work and Charlie being sick, but I was sure glad to be out taking advantage of this beautiful weather to walk at the park. Charlie was feeling much better, so I thought some fresh air would certainly do us both a little good. And it did! Thanks to my great walking team of Carrie (and Claire who always keeps us moving) and Turrisa (and Marissa). They make getting out to walk after a long day of work so worth it. 2.5 miles down. 27.5 miles to go!


NO MORE EXCUSES, MICHELLE!

This is just a quick post - since I'm at work and exhausted and the creative juices are not really flowing at all. Between Charlie being sick the past two days and meetings at work, I have pretty much fallen completely off my plan - food and exercise. How do people juggle so well? I don't juggle as well as I'd like. It seems that once I get all the little balls moving in one direction, a curve ball comes out of nowhere. That's just life I guess. It's all part of the adventure. But this blog isn't about excuses. It's about being honest about what's challenging me and hopefully about what adjustments need to be made to get myself back on track. It is so easy to make excuses and find a reason not to do what you know needs to be done. I fall in this trap - ALOT. Getting back on track after you've allowed yourself to fall into the excuse trap is difficult, but so worth it. Even though I have a sick little boy and I'm exhausted, there is a treadmill with my name on it when I get home tonight. Time to get back on that horse!

Friday, March 13, 2009

Playing Catch Up

Playing catch up seems to be the story of my life. I tend to be more like the hare instead of the tortoise. One minute I'm way out in front of the pack the next minute I'm snoozing under the tree or chasing butterflies. Well I've just woken up from a nap and am ready to take off again.
In the two months since I last updated this blog, I've lost about 15 pounds, visited a nutritional/herbal counselor, continued to avoid Cokes (at least daily), stopped eating cheese, am still trying to eliminate wheat and corn from my diet, and am trying to get on a regular workout routine.

Where I can, I've been replacing wheat with rice and spelt products . Eliminating wheat has honestly been rather difficult. Other than actually liking bread, I've realized that there is wheat in almost everything. I'm so thankful for my friend who has stocked me up with a wide variety of rice crackers, and for Central Market and their spelt bread (when they have it) and spelt tortillas. My next project is to learn to make my own spelt bread. We'll see how that goes :)

I've realized that some people are either very understanding of someone with special dietary needs or don't get it at all. Thankfully, those in my close circle of friends and family have at least tried to accomodate my needs. I know that in this economy it's not easy to accomodate every person's special need, but they have really made an effort and been so supportive.

With all the effort that I have been making in how I eat, I have really fallen down on working out regularly. I would like to say that it has been the cooler weather and getting over not feeling well, but that wouldn't be entirely the issue. Actually, I haven't been managing my time effectively and haven't made working out the priority that I need to. We did do about a 4 mile hike at the new Eagle Mountain Park on Eagle Mountain Lake last week. I have to brag on Charlie, he walked the entire way and loved every minute of it. He's my little explorer. I think I've got a workout buddy in him. He's certainly my motivator. I also am excited that my walking group is ready to start back up again. Since quite a few of us work during the day, the extra hour of light in the evening really motivates us to get out and walk.

My goal is to get my eating and working out more in balance. In the past, and even now, I find myself focussing on one rather than the other. Both are great for me, but until I at least attempt to get them in balance, I'm not going to have the results that I want to have. As I try to juggle the craziness of life with my health, I just think about James 1:4 "Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything".

Another goal I have is to update my blog more regularly. I'm shifting from posting the same blog enteries this on this and three other sites to just this one. I'm sure the web will be a safer place with me contained in two places - here and Facebook.