Last week I challenged myself to a seven day running streak. I wanted to push myself beyond what I thought myself capable of doing. I know that I’m getting stronger. I see it when I look at my legs. I feel it when I walk up a hill. And I hear it through my ear buds while I’m running.
Running daily was physically and emotionally exhausting. My feet hurt and my calves burned. And I bounced somewhere between excitement that I’d completed each run and disappointment that I didn’t run as hard or as fast as I thought I should have.
As you can tell, I didn’t complete my streak but I did do more than I’ve done in an incredibly long time. I think I may have worked harder than I have since I got out of the Army. Here are my achievements from last week:
- Farthest distance in a week ~ 3.13 miles
- Longest duration in a week ~ 41 min 33 sec
- Most calories burned in a week ~ 357 cal
- Highest elevation climbed in a week ~ 155 ft
I started a new fitness challenge yesterday {I’ll tell you more about that later this week}. I plan to keep running but I want to add my upper body to the mix. I also need to focus more on what I’m eating. Creating a fit body is about more than just working out, it’s about focusing on what goes inside my body as well.
This past Sunday, our pastor’s sermon was “Finish”. He said that we’re so used to living with unfinished projects because of short attention spans, limited funds, etc. that some of us don’t know what it’s like to live in a finished home. That’s me. I start things and rarely finish because squirrel… When I started Run for God, our mantra was “Complete not compete.” This continues to be my mantra. In our christian walk, we’re not competing against others, we’re all working towards the same goal: hearing “Well done, my good and faithful servant…” {Matthew 25:21}.
This week my goals are to use my runs as a time for prayer, FINISH my new challenge, and add upper body conditioning to my workout.
