It's the little things that count

To my lovely readers: I am back with a new blog entry in record time. Flying to the East Coast a few times in the last few weeks defiantly allowed me more time to blog. 5+hours on a plane is plenty of time to read, write, and watch a movie. As always, thank you for reading.

This week I have been thinking about the importance of all the little things I need to do to improve my running. I often get lost in the day to day of life and forget to do the little things. Three key events reminded me that I need to take care of myself. First, last week at the church the sermon was on rest. I had just returned from a few days in Tahoe and felt extremely rested. The sermon reminded me that rest is a biblical concept and something we all need. Secondly, I was reminded that I need to sleep more. If I want to be an elite athlete I have to think like one, and elite runners get their sleep. Thirdly, I was able to contrast the difference between feeling rested in Tahoe and feeling exhausted at home the following week.

Basically, if I want to run better, taking care of myself will play a role in my training. Many times I think of these things as just taking up time in my day and fail to recognize the importance of the little things, but these little things turn into something big when all done together.

I have picked out a few ways I plan to take care of myself….

1. Sleep

I plan to sleep more. Starting with last night, I started keeping a sleep log. Included in my sleep log is the number of hours I have slept, how I felt, and reasons for not getting enough sleep if I fall below my 8-½ hour mark.

My sleep has been up and down the past few months. Sometimes I sleep 6-7 hours and then head out for a workout thinking that my lack sleep will not affect my performance. At times I am able to churn through the workout just fine, but my lack of sleep eventually catches up to me. On my recovery run on Wednesday of last week, I was so tired I could barely function. Wednesday was a recovery day so I could run slowly, but my lack of sleep made this run so much more painful. My legs felt fine, but my body was tired. Luckily, one of my friends and sweet Impala teammates joined me and helped me forget that my body just wanted to sleep. I used to be great about going to sleep early, and I plan to start going back to my early bedtimes. So, if I call any of you when I should be asleep, please remind me to go to sleep.

2. Shoes

I have to be diligent about changing my shoes. I must shamefully admit that my last pair of shoes had about 1,500 miles on them. This cannot happen if I want to run well. After 500 miles, my shoes need to be retired to my rainy day shoes and my rainy day shoes need to hit the recycling bend.

3. Stretching, Massage, and Ploys

I tend to be one of those people who likes to stretch at awkward times. I am that woman stretching in the airport, on the curb as I wait for the bus, or in other public places. A few months ago I read in a magazine that stretching in public places is one of the most embarrassing things runners do. To all those I embarrass, please accept my apologizes in advance. I do promise not to stretch at any formal occasions. All jokes aside, stretching is so important and so easy.

I have found that the combo of a baseball, foam roller, and stick (yes, that’s the name of the tool) makes for a great combination of tools.

I have also started doing ploys and I am hoping the strength will help me. The other day I was doing my ploys in golden gate park and the group of middle school tourists making fun of me was not the highlight of my day, but I endured on anyway. ☺

4. Eating healthy food

In Tahoe, one of the women who was up there cooked very yummy food every night. I felt so much better eating freshly prepared food, eating more fruits and vegetables, and cutting down on some of the quick food options I pick up from time to time. I do tend to eat fairly healthy but many times I do not have time to cook and have to pick up something on the go. Nothing beats a home cooked meal.

5. Spending time with God

As a Christian I need to keep my focus on God. I often enjoy some quality time with God when I am on a run by myself. Looking at God’s beautiful creation often reminds me of the power of God. Spending time reading my Bible is also an important aspect of my spiritual life. I know that I cannot earn God’s favor, for I am saved by grace, but if I want to live a life that is glorifying to God, I need to constantly be reminded of God’s character and will for my life. This past week I have been reading Ryan Hall’s book entitled Running with Joy. This book has been a huge reminder to me that I need to find my identity in Christ and not in my performance. I highly recommend this book. Even if you are not Christian, I think you will enjoy this book.

For my readers who are not runners, I hope you too will realize the importance of taking care of yourself in whatever you do. I know some of you overwork or over do it another sport. I also know that many of you are much better at taking care of yourself than me. I know it can take awhile to change my habits, and I do not expect to change overnight. However, I can start making changes each and every day. I know that I have felt so much better during the seasons of my life when I do take care of myself. Little changes of little things, add up to big things. I always appreciate advice on how others accomplish these little things, so bring on your comments.

God called me to run

I have not blogged in awhile. This summer was quite busy. In the past I have posted many of my race reports on here but today I turn to another topic. As I spend so much time training for my races many times I examine God’s calling for my life. I once read a book that discussed how to find God’s calling for your life. This book did not really help, but after reading the book I realized that finding God calling can be quite simple. God gives us talents/skills and gives us things that we enjoy doing. We should use these skills that we enjoy to glorify God while remembering these talents are from God. We can work at these talents that God gave us, but God gave us the natural skill.

I feel like God called me to run. This is one of my callings in life. I feel alive when I run and I feel like a day without running is missing something. I enjoy running and feel as if I have some natural talent, which I am trying to refine. I am thankful for this talent; yet, at times I get frustrated with my performance in races. I know that talent has to be refined through hard work done in a strategic manner but even with hard work many times races do not go as planned. At times I want to thank God when things go well, but I forget to be thankful when they do not. As I strive to live out this calling, I need to remind myself that emotion is part of all humans.

Expressing emotions is not sinful. Jesus was fully man and fully God. During his time living as a man on earth he express a variety of emotions from sadness to happiness. Toward the end of Jesus’ earthly life, Jesus was sitting in the Garden of Gethsemane and said the following in Mark 14:34 “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (Holy Bible, NIV). Jesus knew he would die a physically painful death on the cross. He never lost hope in God’s overall plan for the world, but as a human he expressed sorrow. I need to use Jesus as my example. At times things may not go my way and I may have a vast array of emotions, but I strive to remain hopeful in God’s overall plan for my life and the world. When things do go well, I also need to remember all I have comes from the Lord.

As I express my emotions, I hope to be thankful and remember that the Bible says all things from God are good. Psalm 118:1 says, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his loves endures forever” (Holy Bible, NIV). I take great comfort in knowing that all things from the Lord are good and that once I put my hope in the Lord, nothing can separate me from the Lord.

Lastly, many times I feel a sense of selfishness while I pursue my running. Spending so much time running can seem like such a selfish use of time when people are going to bed hungry in places right near in the Bay Area. I wrestle with this issue. However, I am reminded that my calling to run is equal to other callings in life. Using my counseling skills to help people, working in marketing, and running are all equal callings by God. I find great joy in living out all the callings that God placed on my life. What has God called you to do?

Today I sit here in Tahoe looking at God’s beautiful creation and I am thankful God called me to run. As I train hard for the next couple of years, I am hoping to run many PR’s while also remembering that all I have comes from the Lord. Look for race reports to come in the future.