La Tortuga

This week I had a random running experience.

I probably ought to preface this by saying that lately, for whatever reason, I've felt a bit down. I don't know if it's exhaustion from all the months of endless teaching, or if it's actually boredom with the mundane realities of life. Still, I was feeling a bit down this particular morning. I suppose it didn't really help that, besides feeling down, I was tired and trying to get rid of yucky feelings from a terrible nightmare I had awakened from.

Unable to sleep, I sat down and flipped open the Ensign from a couple of months ago. Inside there was an article about reading scriptures. I don't remember exactly what was said, but basically it was something like, "As you read the scriptures, your spirit will find peace and healing."

'Great!' I thought to myself, 'I've found the solution to calm me down so I can maybe get some rest and feel better about things!'

So, I picked up my Bible. It fell open to 1 Corinthians 9:24, which reads, "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain."

I burst out laughing. I couldn't help myself. What were the chances that, on a day when I was feeling badly about not running, I would read the one scripture on running?! The laughter was what I needed, though, to get through my personal funk. I felt better having had a little chuckle, but mostly I realized that I was doing the best I could, and that the Lord was really proud of me for running. I felt like this was God's way of saying, "Keep up the good work, girl. I know you can do it, and you'll be great."

Later, when I told Aaron this story, I went back and read the scripture again. Only, this time I didn't stop reading. I finished the chapter, which reas as follows:

25 And every man that striveth for the master is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

I knew, in that moment, my training had begun in earnest. I was determined that I would not run merely with the purpose of winning the race (because it is so uncertain, as Paul says), but rather I would run to bring my body into subjection. I would run because with each step I prove that my body is not in control of me. With each step I prove I have the power to make my body stronger and to be a ruler over both its complaining and its appetites.

So, flash forward to today. With the summer heat this last week I can't help but feel lethargic. It is so hot in Fresno that it makes it difficult to WANT to do anything but take long naps and read books in a shaded hammock - indoors! (Forget outside. Who wants to be outside in this heat, even in a shaded hammock?)

Today was no exception to this. I wanted to take a lovely nap, especially since I was rudely awakened this morning by a telephone call while Aaron was in the shower. I knew, however, that if I took a nap I would feel too stressed later with grading and other obligations to justify a run. I would sacrifice what I wanted for what was expected of me. When it comes to running, I hate doing that.

So, since I hadn't run since Monday, I decided to stay awake as long as I could. Remarkably, I lasted the whole afternoon and through one set of major papers. Then, to my own surprise, I no longer felt sleepy. I got up, got changed, and went running.

That was my first great success of the day!!

It was another treadmill day today. This last week I told my classes I was running. I had a student tell me that it was a mistake to run on the treadmill because the machine does over half the work. He said that I wouldn't gain the kind of muscles necessary for actual street running.

This may be the case, but he's crazy if he thinks I'm running when it's 100+ frickin' degrees outside. I'm not that stupid. So, I ran on the treadmill. Here's today's accomplishment (applause!):

5 minute warm-up walk

5 minute run

2 minute walk

3 minute run

3 minute walk

3 minute run

3 minute walk

3 minute run

3 minute cool-down walk

Total running time: 30 minutes

Total treadmill mileage: 2 miles (!!!)

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I feel really good about that! My speed and time running both seem to be improving. I probably could have pushed myself harder today than I did, but I didn't really want to. Sure, the training has started in earnest. But, for now it's enough to me just to be running. The time will come when running becomes about pushing my physical limits again, but for now it is merely about pushing myself to get out and run.

I remind myself that it's important to not push too hard this early on. As the Lord put it, "So run, that ye may obtain." Notice, it doesn't say, "So drive your body into the ground until you wish you were dead, that ye may obtain." After all, slow and steady wins the race; consequently, in the end I'd much rather be the tortoise, and not the hare.

Choices

Today was a hard day of training. It was hard because I had to make a hard decision: do I run, or not?

When I went to the exercise room, there was a man already using the treadmill. He said he'd be 25 more minutes, when I asked him. Keep in mind, I'm in Fresno right now and it's a HOT Memorial Day. I may be a runner, but I'm not crazy enough yet to run outside at 2pm. So, I went home, and decided to eat some lunch because I was really hungry. It wasn't a huge meal. It's just, I can't run after I've eaten. I have to wait a whole hour, or I get sick. Ugh. So, an hour and a half later, I tried again. This time, there were TWO people in the exercise room - one on a treadmill.

Here it was: decision time. I could turn around, go home and call it quits for the day, or I could bite the bullet and exercise on the ellyptical until Mr. Running-Pants got off the machine. I decided to do the ellyptical. Fifteen minutes later, and seriously sweating because I'm not an ellyptical girl, the guy got off the treadmill and I finally had my chance. By this point, though, I was feeling a bit tired. So, here's what I did:

15 minutes on the ellyptical (670 calories burned - haha. I doubt the machine was accurate).
5 minute warm-up walk
3 minutes running
3 minutes walking
3 minutes running
5 minute cool-down walk

Total exercise time: 34 minutes
Total treadmill time: 19 minutes
Total distance ran/walked: 1.38 miles

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After I came home, I stretched (which is a BORING activity, if you ask me, but necessary). To help pass the time I read an article from a magazine. Overall, it was a pretty straightforward piece about talents and choices. One part stood out, though. The article said, "Our choices have the undeniable power of transforming our lives."

Of course, I knew this before I read the article. But, the statement got me thinking about what the results of that transformation are. I began to ask myself the following questions:

1. How are my choices tranforming my life?
2. Is that transformation for good, or is it for ill?
3. Beyond their affect upon me, how are my choices transforming the lives of others?
4. Are those transformations for good, or ill?
5. What can I do today to ensure that my choices always transform my life, and the lives of others, for good?

I know, perhaps a bit deep for a blog. Still, it really got me thinking. Suddenly, I was really glad I had exercised. I sat there and thought, "Well, if nothing else, I ran today - that's a good transformation. That's right, I ran today."

I almost wimped out when faced with a teeny challenge, but in the end I didn't. That choice today, and the many future choices to run in the face of any challenges, will continue to transform my life for the better. If I'm sure of nothing else, I'm sure of that.

Every Marathon Begins with One Step.

What a glorious day! I feel positively reborn!

One of the schools I've been teaching at is now closed, so I have a bit more time on my hands. This week, I spent that time sleeping and trying to remind myself what my face looks like without dark, deep circles imprinted underneath my eyes. So, today I slept in and I took a nap. It was a lovely thing.

But, I've been missing something more in my life lately: exercise. I haven't exercised for at least two months. So, when my sister called me on the phone today and told me she'd been running, I felt a surge of desire to get back to the fitness scene.

That's right, today I ran for the first time in months and it felt GOOD. My running has, to say the least, suffered in the last two months. Still, I was proud of myself for starting to run again after so long. Now, after running, all I can feel is complete joy and satisfaction - I've rested, and I've rejuvenated. It's fantastic.

Today's run served one simple purpose: do it. So, I didn't want to kill myself. Here's what I did:

5 minute warm-up walk
3 minute run
3 minute walk
3 minute run
5 minute walk
3 minute run
3 minute walk
3 minute run
2 minute cool-down walk

Total running time: 30 minutes

Total distance: 1.86 miles

The weird thing is, the run itself wasn't terrible. It was the tingling running down the back of my behind and around each thigh that was, well, itchy. It felt like my nerves and blood vessels were waking up after a long, long sleep.

And, you know, that's just how I feel today, too. I feel awake after months of dark sleep; I feel alert and alive; I feel happy to be alive. Most of all, though, I feel happy to remember that I am a runner.

Did you hear that, World? I AM A RUNNER!