Category Archives: Runnin

Love ’em or hate ’em, we’ve got goals

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It’s been more than eight weeks since my last blog post, so I’m cringing as I review my goals for 2016. One of my primary goals was to blog weekly. By that standard, epic fail.

But I don’t want to focus on failure, I’d rather look at progress.

In 2016, I published 22 posts. One of the reasons I stopped posting was because I’m preparing to launch a new blog. I’ve written four as yet unpublished posts for the new blog and spent MANY hours planning and learning how I can make my next blog better. That means I wrote 26 blog posts in 2016. How many did I post in 2015? Seven.

I’m going to say I halfway achieved my goal and made good progress.

Last January, I had a list of ten goals, and I only fully achieved two of them. One was to run a half marathon, which my daughter Rebekah and I did in May on a misty, bone-chilling morning from Gloucester to Rockport, Mass., and back.

A half marathon struck me as very long. I'd do it again. Maybe. A marathon? I can't see that happening.

A half marathon struck me as very long. I’d do it again. Maybe. A marathon? I can’t see that happening. I don’t like to punish myself that much.

The other one was to lose five pounds. Now I know most of you are probably going to hate me a little (or a lot) right now, but it was the first time in my life that I tried to lose weight. I’ve always been one of those disgusting people who could eat whatever they wanted without getting heavier. I used to come home in tears because I was a rail-thin kid who got teased and had a lot of nicknames (Bones, Spider, and this very creative one named after a popular kids’ game at the time: Pick Up Sticks). My revenge was as I progressed through my 20s and 30s, I didn’t have to watch my weight.

When I was pregnant with Rachel, I had a hard time putting on weight and my doctor told me to consume shakes and malts and multiple desserts. I gained less than 20 pounds total and Rachel weighed 8 pounds, 10 ounces. Once I gave birth, my abdomen would never be the same, but my weight didn’t change much.

Going home from the hospital with newborn baby Rachel. Talk about terror. You mean they're really going to send us home with her?

Going home from the hospital with newborn baby Rachel. Talk about terror. You mean they’re really going to send us home with her?

Funny thing about getting older, your metabolism slows down, and it finally caught up with even good ol’ Pick Up Sticks. In my 40s it started to inch up, maybe just a pound a year. Nothing too concerning, but one day your favorite pair of jeans refuse to button.

I decided I would join hubby Shawn in a show of solidarity and diet with him in January. Shawn has succeeded multiple times in losing weight simply by counting calories. I downloaded the My Fitness Pal app on my phone and started tracking. After a month, I’d hit my goal of losing five pounds.

I did pretty well at maintaining my weight while I was training for the half marathon. Running 10 miles at a time will do that for you. But later in the year, the scale began a discouraging climb. From Halloween through New Years was just a whole lot of holiday indulging, which meant I gained back almost everything I lost.

Self-control is hard, y’all. That’s why I think it comes last on this list:

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. -Galatians 5:22-23

I’ve heard that the fruits of the Spirit build upon one another. Self-control without love, joy, peace and the rest can quickly turn into self-righteous legalism. In this life, we’re never going to achieve perfection in the fruits of the Spirit. But that doesn’t mean we stop working on it.

More important than the deliberate attention to physical health is the conscientious focus on spiritual health. If I’m not spending time seeking the Lord in reading the Bible, praying and looking for His hand at work around me so I can join Him, the fruits of the Spirit are going to be withering instead of thriving.

One of the most beautiful aspects of following Christ is that spiritual fitness doesn’t have to decline as you advance in years. At 51, I am not able to run as I did at 21 or 31 or 41. My body is wearing out. My knees ache on the trail and my hips complain when I sit cross-legged on the floor. Science and experience tell us we lose muscle mass, flexibility and skin tone as we age.

There are no such barriers to spiritual health. I can be more of a prayer warrior at 80 that I was at 40.

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. – 2 Corinthians 4: 16-17

So I want to have a new goal this year of drawing closer to Jesus. What does that look like in practical terms? A good goal should be measurable.

One I’d like to accomplish this year is to read through the Bible. I’ve been involved in a lot of Bible studies in recent years, but it’s been a while since I’ve deliberately read the Good Book cover to cover. I’ve started by using a reading plan on biblegateway.com.

On New Year’s Day at Northwood Church, Pastor Bob Roberts challenged us to read through the Bible in 2017. He reads it every year and says he reads three chapters in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament. He mixes it up between the historical chapters in the OT and the wisdom literature (Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon) and alternates between the Gospels and the Epistles. He’ll read through Matthew, then go to Romans, then to Mark…you get the idea.

As far as other resolutions, from a spiritual standpoint, I decided to choose one word as my focus for 2017. My word is grace, both God’s unmerited favor and the Holy Spirit empowering me to do His will.

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” – 2 Cor. 12:9

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.” – Romans 5:1-2

What about you? Do you have a resolution or a word for the year?

 

What will get your Olympic effort?

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My first memory of the Olympics was watching Soviet gymnast Olga Korbut, “the darling of Munich,” compete in 1972. I was 7 years old and captivated by her charm and athleticism. A neighbor down the street had a three-foot tall fence that became my balance beam. I’d scamper across it and pose, dreaming of adoring crowds and medals.

Olga Korbut, a star of the 1972 Munich games, cast an Olympic spell over 7-year-old me that continues to this day.

Olga Korbut, a star of the 1972 Munich games, cast an Olympic spell over 7-year-old me that continues to this day.

Having absolutely NO gymnastics skills, poor flexibility, sub-par coordination and a tall, lanky frame with minuscule upper body strength, my chances of becoming an Olympic gymnast were zero. But I never stopped marveling at what those small but mighty athletes could do.

Ever since 1972, I’ve been a fan of the Olympics. From Mary Lou Retton and Florence Griffith-Joyner to Simone Biles and Michael Phelps, I’ve watched in wonder at it all.

Michael Phelps has 28 medals, 23 of them gold! Inconceivable! He says Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, an outspoken Christian, and the book "Purpose Driven Life" helped him get back on track after he was arrested for his second DUI.

Michael Phelps has 28 medals, 23 of them gold! Inconceivable! He says Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, an outspoken Christian, and the book “Purpose Driven Life” saved his life after he was arrested for his second DUI.

This past week I’ve short-changed my sleep and dragged my way through some days with an Olympic hangover.

What does it take to be a successful Olympic athlete? I’d say innate talent, dedication and mental toughness.

No matter how hard I trained, I don’t think I would ever be a gymnast. God didn’t bless me with that kind of frame. The only sport I ever tried where I had some success was running. I briefly held the school record in the 880 (yards, people, because I’m old) at John Marshall Junior High, but it was broken a few years later.

I had enough dedication to run track and cross country in high school, but I didn’t have the drive to become great at it. I didn’t have that single-minded determination and will. That could have been a combination of lacking talent and mental toughness and it was absolutely an absence of sacrificial devotion.

That said, I still lace up my running shoes three days a week and pound pavement. I’m excruciatingly slow compared to the rail-thin, bouncy teen that used to win an occasional track medal in the Wichita City League. When I get a medal in a race now it’s usually because there weren’t that many 50 and older women running. You can outlast the competition in a whole different way!

I find that running brings me a kind of quiet joy. I dislike the treadmill because I’d rather be outside with my crazy running buddy. If I’m in a challenging season, a run will relax the tension in my shoulders or put a bit of the old bounce in my step. A walk can work wonders, too. Now that I’m an older runner, I don’t run daily. Even a short walk will boost my mood. For me, it’s the combination of movement and nature. I also sometimes do a 10-minute exercise video for strength training because I know I’m losing muscle mass and prone to osteoporosis because of my slender frame.

Yep, here she is again. My ever-eager running buddy. She's always good to go!

Yep, here she is again. Elektra, my ever-eager running buddy. She’s always good to go!

Whether you run or walk or cycle or golf, let those Olympic efforts remind you of the responsibility we all have to take care of our bodies. Most of us are not called to be Olympians, but all of us are called to certain roles, some of them only we can do. Managing our health helps us maintain the devotion and mental toughness to continue to do what God created us to do, from caring for kids or parents or spouses to learning at school, building businesses or serving others.

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body.” – 1 Cor. 6:19-20

“Thus I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight as if I were shadowboxing. No, I drive my body and train it, for fear that, after having preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.”  – 1 Cor. 9:26-27

Lessons from the back of the pack

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Last weekend, my 21-year-old daughter Rebekah and I ran our first half marathon. We’d done races of 9 miles and 10 miles, but we’d never done 13.1 miles. We decided to use Shawn’s frequent flyer miles (Thanks, Honey!) and go to a run outside of Boston and do some sightseeing before and after the big run

The day before the race, we had a great time walking the Freedom Trail in Boston and carb loading at a cafe in Little Italy. Our waitress’s accent — she called me “doll”–added to the fun. After our run, we drove up to Maine and found a little town on the coast for chowder, lobster rolls and shopping. Rebekah said she preferred “Murder She Wrote” New England over “Cheers” Boston, but both venues were fun.

As for the run, it was HARD. The morning was cold and drizzly, fog shrouding the namesake pair of lighthouses on the course. There were more hills between Gloucester and Rockport than we find between Keller and North Richland Hills (despite the name).

race start

Cold start in the upper 30s. Welcome to May in New England. Obviously, I am selfie challenged.

Did I mention that it was long? Map My Run, which lined up with all their mile markers, told me the race was actually 13.3 miles. When you’re ready to be done, two-tenths of a mile matters. We kept going and only walked a little bit and finished with a better time than we expected, although well back into the pack of runners, many of whom sported “Boston Athletic Association” Boston Marathon gear. For you non-runners, you only get to run the Boston Marathon by getting a very fast qualifying time IN ANOTHER MARATHON or by having run it more than 15 times.

Towards the end of the race when every muscle hurt

Towards the end of the race when every muscle hurt

The point I want to make is that right now I’m having to run a spiritual endurance race in certain areas. I’ve prayed and sought God’s guidance, but the struggle remains. Unlike a real race, I’m not sure where to find the finish line. But I can trust God to give me the power to endure and keep going.

One of the best things about a road race is the camaraderie. Fellow runners encourage one another and people cheer for you along the course and at the water stations to boost your spirits. At the Mile 9 water station last weekend, a woman called Rebekah and me her “two favorite runners of the day.” It didn’t matter that we were near the back of the pack and she may have said it a couple dozen times, we felt better.

In the body of Christ, we can cheer for the well-known pastors and authors, the speakers who fill stadiums and lead hundreds to faith, but we should also encourage those who are struggling. Those who are dealing with marital strife, sick parents, colicky babies, bad grades, prodigal sons and daughters. We should look for ways to bless others with a cup of water and a few kind words in the middle of whatever marathon they are running.

Because everyone has challenges. Call it pruning, call it the results of bad choices (sometimes not even our own), call it living in a fallen world. That’s the bad news. But here’s the good news. In Christ, we have victory. We may not have it in our hands yet, but we can hold it in our hearts. We know that He gives us power, love and self-control when we seek Him, not fear and anxiety (2 Timothy 1:7).

So run your race, my friends, and don’t forget to encourage others, especially those at the back of the pack.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” – Hebrews 12:1

Not sure if I've ever been more glad to see the Finish Line.

Not sure if I’ve ever been more glad to see the Finish Line.