"Let us RUN with ENDURANCE the race that is set before us" Hebrews 12:1

The videos arrived :) I'm going to read through the material tonight and hopefully start Video 1 tomorrow. My throat is a little sore so if it still hurts tomorrow, I will probably just rest tomorrow and start on Wednesday. I'm excited about starting this new program.

I wanted to write a little about motivation and how to encourage ourselves. I think it's an important part of the journey, especially with any weight loss/fitness oriented goals. These are life-long journeys and don't end. To me,  the more in depth the goals the better. I have several reasons for wanted to do this.

1) Working out makes me feel better about myself physically and emotionally. It helps me de-stress and also keeps me focused. Eating well does the same.

2) I want to run in the races that I mentioned in the previous post. The last time I ran Crazy 8s was in 2008. It was so exhilarating to cross the finish line and last time I barely made it under an hour (which was my goal). This year I'm aiming for 55 minutes for the 5 mile race.

3)My bum right knee is acting up again and if I want to run these races then taking some weight off would definitely help me.

I would strongly recommend telling a few friends about your goals so they can encourage and pray for you. It's hard to do these things on your own. Support is crucial. I find support through my family, my boyfriend, my friends, music (BarlowGirl's "Mirror" is my favorite song to listen to when I'm having an "I'm ugly, I'm fat" day. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpVRgye2ihk) I don't recommend looking at celebrity pictures to find an "ideal" body. Airbrushed and unrealistic.

I want to share a quick story about how one of my friends helped to encourage me. My freshman year of college I decided to run in my first 5K(3.1 mile) race ever. I had just had knee surgery the previous year and gain about  30lbs (eating and not exercising) . Once I started exercising again the weight slowly came off. I was so excited to be able to walk without crutches again that I started running. Needless to say on the night before the race, my roommate disappeared for a little bit to "work on a class project". The day of the race, she and another friend showed up to my race to cheer me on with this sign.

I still remember how much her encouragement meant to me. That was a great day! It also reminds me of how I should encourage others.

October 2007

"Let us RUN with ENDURANCE the race that is set before us" Hebrews 12:1