i walked with God this morning

This morning was a great walk. I managed 4 miles. I say managed because old mr. shin pain creeped back in and wouldn't go away for the entire first mile. Ugh. But by mile 2 I was 90% pain free and in my stride. I was tired though. But I didn't want to stop at 2, I wanted to keep going so I pushed. What happened at the start of mile 3 was awesome. The sun peered out from behind a cloud and shone with a bright vigor only God could have poured down and my ipod began the tune of He Is Lord. Oh my soul. Right there at ACU, right in front of the track, my hand flew up and it and my soul did some praising. I don't know what I looked like. I really don't care. That moment was a God moment. I knew I could finish because God was with me and cheering me on. When I had about 5 minutes left, God reminded me that He was with me by playing This Is Our God. It was a great closing to a great walk with God!

I do have to tell you that after I got home and the soreness of the walk began to set in, my mood went sour. It's crazy that I was on such a high moment with God and then one small thing snowballed and the day went south quickly. I didn't understand much of my schoolwork today, the boys picked up my mood and the grumpies set in. It was a rough afternoon that I finished off with an "ugly-cry". Yuck. I hate feeling that way. So, I put the books down and did some house cleaning. 5 loads of laundry later and I began to perk up. Then came the dinner of comforts and everyone's mood is picking up. It's slow, and we're all pretty worn out from the emotional roller coaster of a day, but at least we're not grumpy anymore. It's kind of funny, God took me through the journey of my walk today, and they had to take me through another journey of emotions. I think I went from high to low to okay. And right now I'm okay with okay :)

the right shoes do indeed make all the difference

Hello blog land! I've been gone for a while I know. Life got BUSY for a whole minute there. Walking got pushed to the side because I didn't have time for it :( That made me very sad. The changes I could feel taking place in my body slipped right back to their norms and I've just felt BLAH the past two weeks. It's been yuck. So today I was able to get back out and walk again! 2 miles around ACU and it was fantastic! I did notice that my legs weren't hurting on the first half mile like they usually do. I then realized it's because I wasn't wearing my knock-off-shape-ups. Don't get me wrong, I love how they make my legs feel, but the fact that I didn't have to spend the first half mile in pain was great! And I still felt just as good at the end in my new shoes as I did in my "shape-ups". So what new shoe you ask? Well, I went to Academy and found me some women's running shoes by New Balance. I really like them! And not just cause they have some pink on them. Though - the pink was the deciding factor in buying them, just sayin. My feet don't sweat nearly as much because they have some kind of air-flow-mesh-stuff (I do believe that IS the technical term, lol), and they don't hurt as much after the walk. I feel pretty good right now! I wish my body had felt like going another two miles. Maybe tomorrow. I'd been told better shoes would produce better results by our half coach (Ruthie is probably smiling at this point :) ) but it didn't really sink in until after my walk this morning that, wow! The right shoes really do make all the difference in how I feel during and after the walk! As does the tying technique! My feet didn't slip in the shoe once! The only time I felt a bit self-conscious during the walk was my wardrobe, lol. But that also is new and not changing so people are just going to have to get used to it. I found a bunch of walking/running clothes on clearance at WM a few weeks back and this morning tested out my jogging crops with walking shorts, and two (yeah two, lol) tops. I gotta tell ya - I did not feel the sweat as much! The clothes are supposed to wick the sweat away and I think they did! I knew I was sweating but didn't feel it as much. Works for me. The only downside is that they are a bit "clingy", not tight, but they do show all my "curves", lol. So when the teeny-bopper blondes come running by I feel a bit elephantile, but oh well. I'm here, I'm big, get used to me, :). I just turned my music up and walked on anyway! And if felt great :) So, please pray that I can continue to work out some walking time. Scott's schedule has been changed a little bit which is good for us, but it takes away my regular walking times. Plus, school has begun - both home and college, and those take priority as well. I'm still in this though. I feel better than I have in a very long time and it's a direct result of walking. I'm doing this half marathon and I'm not going to let Satan block me! Help me fight him off with some powerful prayers will ya? :)