Training Continues

I'm not really sure what week I am at for my half marathon training. Since I started on October 1st, I have played around with a few different training plans. I have been running consistently, 3x a week. This new training plan which I am going to adopt this week has me running 5x a week (Monday and Friday are off days). I hope that is not a lofty training goal for me. I am thankful to one of my friends from Messiah (Philly campus semester) for helping me navigate my way through all things training. She had also been such an encouragement to me even from like 4 states away! 

For a while my runs were going really well. Last Sunday I ran for 7 miles which is the longest run I have ever completed. This week I had headaches everyday after work and I only ran 2 miles on Tuesday and 2 on Thursday. So today I was going to get up early and run...that didn't happen. Finally started my run around 1:30pm. Started off okay, but I quickly became very exhausted and at the two mile mark I stopped. I walked for a while and tried running again but I only added another .7 miles to today's total. 

Needless to say I am feeling disappointed in myself and discouraged with my progress. I shouldn't have slacked off this week and maybe that was my downfall.
As I was walking back to my car, I was thinking about that phrase, "there'll be days like this my mama said". Not every run is going to be easy. I know my momma is proud of me no matter what. You see, I am not a runner by nature, so this whole half marathon thing is completely out of my comfort zone. 

For the past two weeks, I have been running to worship music. This has been such a blessing to me. I do skip over the really slow songs because they just make me want to lay down on the side of the road and stare up at the sky. I have been using my runs to just worship God. I don't always sing along (it's hard to run and sing) but I always think about the songs much more than I do when I'm driving or listening at home. Sometimes I will talk to God, although only in my head. When I don't know what to say to Him, I just start thanking him for everything I can think of. I will also pray for the people I pass during my runs (not all the time but sometimes). I always ask God if they are followers of Christ, as if expecting an audible answer. And then I ask God to open their hearts to know Jesus.

My momma taught me to never give up. And so even though today was one of those days where I walked away in defeat...I will try my run again tomorrow because it will be a brand new day. 

P.S. Here is a picture I found this past week. Lindsay and I are dressed up as princesses for Halloween and we are holding momma's hand during the parade at the hospital.




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