Now that I’ve been using Zen Labs Fitness since January for my 5K training and endurance, I’ve also started using a few other apps to kick up my training to another level. I downloaded the Map My Run app to help with timing accuracy. I ran a 5K in 46:02 this morning with an average pace of 14:45. I’ve also learned a few tricks to help me increase my speed. For instance, I’ve been power-walking the first 5 minutes, and then I run until I reach a mile, alternating 60 seconds fast/60 seconds slow. Once I reach a mile, I power-walk the next 5 minutes, and then start running again using the same routine. I’ve found that incorporating the 5-minute power-walk between each mile helps get my heart rate back to normal. It also prevents me from running out of energy so quickly. Due to my work schedule, I cannot run in very many races since most of them are held on weekends, so I downloaded the Yes.Fit app and ran my first virtual race. It was a lot of fun . . . I even got a medal for just completing it!

Switching up my training from time to time keeps it from getting monotonous. When things start getting mundane, that’s when I know something needs to change. My body starts getting used to the same old thing, so it starts taking longer for it to respond to the same workouts. Our bodies need a “revival” from time to time.

My spirit needs a daily “revival” also. When I start getting satisfied with the status quo in my Christian life, it is time to switch things up. I have to start evaluating why I do what I do. Am I reading my Bible every day just so that I can check it off of my spiritual to-do list, or am I doing it because I truly desire to learn more about God so that I can show His love to everyone I meet? Have I found someone who I can mentor so that they can experience the same love of God that I do now? Is there something in my own life that is keeping me from having a pure relationship with God?

The Psalmist David was heartbroken when his eyes were opened to the sin he committed with Bathsheba. He experienced a revival in his own heart:

“Create in me a clean heart, O God: and renew a right spirit within me. . . . Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free spirit.” Psalm 51:10, 12

We should never be afraid to switch up our routines from time to time. If our bodies are remaining the same each week, we must be willing to do an honest evaluation to see what needs to change. I am daily learning how to switch things up in my Christian life as well. God is working with me every day by very patiently showing me what needs to change, and He is helping me to learn ways to make those changes . . . one day at a time.

Until next time . . . let’s keep on running!!

For a few weeks now, my weight has started to plateau. I know it happens. When we lose weight, our bodies change, so we have to learn how to change with them. The process can be frustrating though! When we don’t have as much weight to lose, it becomes harder to get that last stubborn twenty pounds to come off. Part of my problem over the last few weeks has been my mindset. When I did not see the weight coming off, I got frustrated. I started to fret every time I stepped on the scale. I decided to change that last week. I chose to focus on the total amount of weight I had lost up to that point. I also chose to celebrate and be thankful for the things I have learned on this journey instead of browbeating myself if things weren’t going the way I thought they should. When I stepped on the scale last week, I lost weight! I lost more this week too! Both losses were small, but that’s okay. I learned that stressing over my weight can actually add to it instead of helping to take it off. I just have to stay dedicated to my healthy lifestyle and let my body do the rest.

As Christians, it can be so easy to get discouraged when we face hard times. I and all of my former coworkers got laid off from work a few years ago due to our company downsizing. I sent resumes’ and had interviews all over town for over six months before anything started to happen. I remember crying my eyes out one day. My bills were steadily coming in, and I had no income to pay them. I had reached a point where I was having a hard time trusting in God’s guidance. I would read my Bible, but my Bible reading became more of a duty than a desire to learn about God. What’s funny is that I was afraid to admit to God that I was having a hard time trusting . . . as if He didn’t already know!! That afternoon while I was sobbing, I begged God to give me the strength He knew I needed to trust Him. I told Him that I felt like I had done all I could do to find work, but I couldn’t understand why no one was calling. At that moment, it was as if I could hear Him whisper in my ear, “Just wait”. Isaiah 40:28-31 says:

“Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

As soon as I finished praying, an overwhelming sense of peace came over me. In my heart, I said, “Okay, Lord”. A few weeks later, I was employed! Looking back on that time, I can see how God was already working. He just wanted me to let go and submit everything to Him!

One thing I have learned with weight loss is that if we do our part, our bodies will eventually do theirs. We just have to relax, give it time, and trust our bodies to do their work. The same idea goes with the Christian life. Yes, God wants us to do our part to take care of our finances and our health (among other things), but we also have to remember that God is ultimately in control of every part of our lives. He will guide us in the direction He wants us to go. All we have to do is trust Him, and just wait for His Perfect Time.

Until next time . . . let’s keep on running!!