Man oh man. Today's walk was hard! I didn't walk yesterday, mostly because between cleaning the van inside and out, catching up my cleaning schedule, finishing up paid work, and preparing for the girls' sleep over, I just didn't get the time to. And Thursday I only walked three miles. So today, I was ready to go walking.
Normally I have some shint pain, especially on my right leg, when I start out walking, but after a mile or so I get into the ZONE and it goes away. Today I had my mom drop me at Veteran's Park and I purposed to walk two miles around the park and then walk home, which is 6 miles: 8 miles altogether. But after one mile around, my right leg was hurting so bad, I wasn't sure how much farther I could go. I craved the zone, but it just wasn't coming and I wasn't anywhere near my normal walking speed. I actually called hubby and told him I may need him to pick me up. (Yikes!) So instead of two miles around the park, I walked the one and then began walking home, not sure how far I was going to make it.
Finally, after another mile or so, the pain dulled, my speed increased, and I was a much happier walker. And I'm happy to report that I made it home. I walked 7 miles in two hours. Not bad. :-)
I am even happier to report that just since last week I've lost 4 1/2 inches total and 1 1/2 pounds. I've finally seen the scale move! ;-) And I'm at 60 miles walked.
Now I want to ponder the ZONE for a moment. When I first set out to exercise, I may have to talk myself into it. I have the whole time before me and those first few moments, I'm stiff, maybe tired, maybe not really into it. Sometimes I know I have a zillion other things I could be doing. Sometimes I'm just lazy, and would rather lounge. But as I walk and push myself to keep going, I enter the zone and I'm happy. The zone is what I love about exercise. It's that moment when the endorphins kick in and I'm energized and moving at a good speed. And sometimes it's hard to stop. I just want to keep going because I love how it feels.
1 Timothy 4: 7 and 8 says "Train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come." I don't want to neglect my spiritual fitness while I am focused on becoming physically fit, so alongside my walking challenge, I have made myself a spiritual challenge: to read the bible in 90 days. All of it. Every word.
So far I am halfway through Genesis. And I find that the zone applies to other areas of my life than just exercise. Sometimes it is hard to pick up my bible and begin to read it. Other things call my attention. Geneologies bore me. Hard names tie my tongue. It can be hard to understand why God allows blood shed or a flood to destroy mankind. Things can boggle my mind. And sometimes I am just plain lazy. I would rather watch that movie or read that cutesy romantic story. But I find that as I dig into God's word, I begin and I push myself and I find myself in a zone after while. And like the endorphins from exercise energize my day, the spiritual high from reading God's word envelopes me and energizes my love for God, my love for people, my need to change things about myself, and my prayer life. I find myself falling in love with my bible and the God who wrote it, just as I find myself falling in love with walking.
And as for those things that boggle my mind, my God says: "Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known." Jeremiah 33:3
Until Monday...
No comments:
Post a Comment