Not at home...

Thursday's workout: 1.5 mi. run (at 7 a.m. Friday)

The rules for eating while training are not difficult. They go a little something like this: if it's gonna make you feel bad when you run, don't eat it!

Okay, so they can be little more complicated than that. But really, how complicated do we need to get with our eating? For example, if burritos make me feel awful when I run, how about I find something else that I like to eat? Or, if we have, say...oh, I don't know...maybe a free hot wings night for work? How about I don't eat 30 of them just because I can?

(And for anyone ready to say "I told you so!" about the pizza last Tuesday, go ahead. All together now...)

My eating is still out of whack. I think I'm not going to really break through until I fix this.

-----

In other news, I had a terribly "out of whack" day yesterday. I just felt out of sorts...out of place...etc. I woke up this morning with the OOPH. (out-of-place hangover) I got my run in, just as planned, and I got to thinking: am I really supposed to feel at home all the time here in this world of sin? Is it not natural to have days of feeling like I don't fit in? Isn't this part of the plan? Is there not a better place I'm supposed to be striving for, partly by remembering that when I'm down here, I'm going to have days like yesterday? Reality check!

Tuesday Tempo Run!

Monday weigh-in: 201 lbs. (-2)

Better, but my weight is still fluctuating at this stage. The good news is that my cardiovascular system is getting stronger, and that is allowing me to work harder when I run. The pounds will start coming off more consistently as my mileage goes up.

Tuesday's workout: 2.25 mi. tempo run

I'm making Tuesday tempo day. For the non-running crowd, to do a "tempo run" means to start at a slow pace and push it up to race pace (about 1-2 minutes faster than comfortable jogging, typically) toward the middle of the run, slowing back down to finish. It worked well last week at 12-10-12 pace, so I pushed it to 12-10-8:30-10-12 today. 8:30 was my marathon race pace back in 2005-2006, and I touched it for about 4 1/2 minutes today. Feeling stronger, and feeling encouraged.

Time for some pizza!

My help comes from the Lord!

Yep, if you look closely at Wu's hair, it's two pieces of gum. Don't ask.

Thursday's workout: 1.5 mi. run

10:00 pace, and worked into a very busy day. It feels truly good to pull that off when you don't seem to have time.

Saturday's workout: 1.5 hours ice skating

This is becoming one of my favorite "easy" workouts! I'm even thinking of buying my own skates.

Sunday's workout: 2 mi. run, 9:08 PACE

This workout is technically flipped from Saturday. I used Saturday for my "easy" day. This was outdoors, and my pace was up as fast as it has been at any point in my training. This is astounding to me for several reasons:

- I was running on about 2 hours of sleep.

- My feet and legs were sore from skating the night before.

- I had inexplicably given my right arm a deep bruise during my day yesterday, which didn't seem like it was going to go away! (It was almost completely recovered today.)

- I had to be up early for church, and hadn't eaten but a simple donut and piece of candy for breakfast...

I could keep going, but here's the point. I had almost no earthly sustenance, and yet the sustenance was there. I believe that the Lord put me in position to minister to people today at church, and by making myself available to Him, He poured out His blessings to me in the form of energy, sustenance, words to speak, positive attitude, etc.

HE is my strength, HE is my sustenance, HE is my reason for getting up in the morning, HE is the one making amazing things happen in my life!

Does this running stuff cross paths with my faith? You bet it does!

Better late than never!

It's been a while, so straight to business:

Monday weigh-in: 203 lbs. (+2)

Frustrating. But, I'll just keep up the good workouts, and keep pressing forward. You readers are sharing in my victories, and my defeats as well!

Tuesday's workout: 2 mi. run

Okay, so technically this took place at 6:30 Wednesday morning. It actually worked better that way for two reasons. 1. It gave my legs an extra 12 hours to heal up. 2. It extended my Skype time on Tuesday evening.

-----
Who am I? (round 3)

- I am a young female, and I'm not the tallest on my block.

- I am currently maintaining a good long-distance relationship. (Yes, it's possible.)

- I think I am rather good at Dutch Blitz. That is, until I play Jason. I am then reminded that I am rubbish.

Who am I?

Answer: Click here.

Up early!

Early to bed, early to rise

Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and...TIRED!

- Unknown author

Today's workout: 1.5 mi. run

10:00 pace straight through with an 85% kick at the end. Getting stronger. Hoping to break 200 pounds this week. We'll find out on Monday.

Attitude check!

When I first started running on the treadmill I use now (at the workout center of my apartment complex), I got very upset with it on my first run. This is because it only displays distance in kilometers. I got upset because, as with almost every other American runner, I measure my runs in miles. But, frustrated as I was, I still got on that first time, took an educated guess at the distance, said a few bad words, and got off with a sub-par workout, still upset.

It wasn't until I was ready to work out the next time and found that I almost didn't work out because of the stupid treadmill distance gauge (there is NO button or combination of buttons that works to change this feature, apparently) that I finally broke down and came up with a plan. An attitude check, if you will.

I decided that instead of being upset, and instead of quitting using the perfectly good (and free) treadmill becaus

e of the kilometer gauge, I'd make a decision about how I was going to get past my problem. After all, it was my problem: not a problem with the treadmill. So I simply sat down and made a little computer table with my miles-to-kilometers conversion numbers for up to 13 miles, printed it up, and started taking it with me to the treadmill. Before I knew it, I was stress-free again, and having good workouts.

Today's workout: 2 mi. run

So long, adrenaline! Hello, reality! I felt slow and sluggish today, but still managed a good 12-10-12 tempo run today over the distance. The good news is that I'm feeling no further significant pain from my right leg, and it appears to have healed nicely on the rest day.

The playlist...

I really needed a pick-me-up yesterday, as I was having a rough afternoon. There wasn't anything really wrong with me, and I can't say that anything is really going poorly for me right now. But still: it felt like a swarm of discouragement and lies was settling in on me! So, in this condition, I hopped on my treadmill at the workout center. I remember thinking how glad I am that I have all my "Jesus music" on my iPod right now. So, after my Daily Audio Bible podcast, I surfed into the music, picking one at random. It was Big Daddy Weave singing that God loves me "Just The Way I Am." In addition to being a big, loud rock song, it gave me a message that my heart needed to hear: that God's love is not so very concerned with all the mistakes I made today, or all the little embarrassments I endure, or all the ways I fall short. Instead, He loves me despite all of that, because He created me. And I love Him back. Because what other friend do I have like that, who never changes?

Top 10 on my iPod this week:

1. "I Am Free" -Newsboys

2. "Get Ready" -Annointed

3. "Happy" -Ayeisha Woods

4. "Beautiful One" -By The Tree

5. "Your Grace Is Enough" -Matt Maher

6. "Marvelous Light" -Charlie Hall

7. "Only The World" -Mandisa

8. "Steady On" -Point of Grace

9. "Song of Hope (Heaven Come Down)" -Robbie Seay Band

10. "Friend of God" -Phillips, Craig & Dean

Sunday's workout: 40 min. walk

My right leg is sore. It feels like it might just be a shin splint. Hopefully today's rest will let it heal. I hope it's not an injury.

Monday weigh-in: 201 lbs. (-6)

Now THAT'S a little more like it!!!

Racing again!

Thursday's workout:
3.1 mi. run
Frosty 5K, Wichita, KS
Finish time: 32:22

It was a fine day for a race, and a great way to bring in 2009! Dad and I (pictured) had decided beforehand to do a run-walk approach to the Frosty 5K, to see how we'd fare at that distance. Even at just 3.1 miles, it was the longest distance that he and I had ever attempted together. We started strong, and were prepared to walk after mile 1. But when we reached the mile marker, we communicated and decided that we didn't need to stop running just yet. Next thing we knew, 2.1 miles later, there we were at the finish line, having done the whole distance without walking at all! I think you can call it a combination of race-day adrenaline and being in better shape than we'd imagined we were in. Regardless, it was a fantastic day, and I'm more excited than ever for my training!

Saturday's workout: 2 mi. run

I think I'm still pretty high from my race on New Year's Day, as I pushed the pace to about 9:30 today. Still slower than the "old me", but I'm getting stronger every day.

It's time.

About

I'm Jason, and I welcome any feedback you have on this blog, and invite you to make comments at your leisure about the content you see here.

The 9:24 Project

Nothing more to say. Thanks for reading.