new, new, new

I officially made the move back from Chicago to Rock Island this weekend; I am all unpacked into my super-nifty apartment and moving into a new phase (and *new* is definitely the theme I keep hearing from God at this point.)  


Now begins the challenge of not losing the things I have learned and the lifestyle changes I made in Chicago.  No steam table meals that lend themselves so easily to my little ways I've tricked myself into downsizing my diet...shopping and cooking for myself, I'm going to have to be more careful not to overdo.  No sixth story room...gonna have to find a way to compensate for all the stairs I no longer have to climb (though, as a friend noted, I now live in the land of tremendous hills, so it's not rocket science, how to work that out.)  


This morning, I made it for my morning run (gotta move it back from 5:30 to 5, with my new, earlier work time), which was in the dark.  Since I live on the side of one of those tremendous hills, my 5 minutes of brisk walking to warm up was mostly uphill.  I am happy to say that hill does not kick my butt nearly as hard as it once did.  


This was my first morning of jogging 30 minutes with no walk breaks!  WAHOO!!!  I did it!  Me - Karen Swank!!!  And it wasn't even all that hard!  


If you're following this and teetering on whether or not to try the C25K thing...DOOOOOO IT!  And tell me all about the adventure!


Meanwhile..have a great Monday.  I know I will!

stretched a bit

Haven't blogged much lately, mostly because I'm all hardcore about soaking up every last bit of wonderful to be found in this, my final week of living in Chicago.  And then, too, there are the emotions surrounding all of that...extreme joy, extreme sadness, overflowing with memories and anticipation.  Which has led to rather more emotional eating than I care to confess to.  


Still, I have not given up.  


I completed my third run for this week this morning (probably my final Chicago jog).  Ran 14 minutes, walked 1, ran 14, walked 1, and up the steps to the 6th floor.   Next week I begin running 30 uninterrupted minutes a day in Rock Island, and each time will include time on one of those epic Rock Island hills.

Truth:  it was HARD getting out there this morning.  I'm having a ton of late nights (visiting friends, drinking caffeinated beverages too late in the day, lying awake thinking too much, sleeping very lightly with dreams that feel like work) and the cumulative effect was very much felt this morning.  The whole run was one big UGH.  


Still, I made it out there and didn't stop to sit down for a break, which was all my mind wanted to say to me (never had THAT thought before this morning)!  


So, overall, though I'm tired and this loving my body thing feels hard and not very natural just now...I'm still moving forward by the grace of God.


This is good.

ungracefully learning

Went out to eat with friends for the past two evenings.  Quickly learned that I still have plenty of work to do re: learning to hear and love my body even in that tempting setting.  I have all my little ways set in place here at my house; they work for that setting, but I'm gonna need to press into God for guidance on slaying the "must feast while in a restaurant" mindset.


Yesterday morning I didn't run, partly because I had sat up talking way too late the night before, but mostly because I stopped to check the weather on my phone before rolling out of bed and it said "isolated thunderstorms."  That was enough to keep sleepy Karen in bed.  As I have stated before, I really do better in making good choices if I do it quickly and without hesitation or backups.


Oh well...I'm learning, right?

wut?!

Advanced to the next step in my running:


Run (jog) 13 minutes
Walk 2 minutes
Repeat


HEY!!  I can jog 13 minutes, uninterrupted, and then do it again in 2 minutes!  Me!  Karen Swank!  I can do it!  Holy cow.


Next week I will do jog 14 minutes, walk 1 minute, repeat.  My tiny book advises that if this tires me, I should repeat it a week before moving to the big daddy of 'em all:  jog 30 minutes without stopping!


Either way, looks like before the month is over I will be at the 30-minute-jog mark.


Me!  Karen Swank! 


Whodathunkit?!

free, easy, beautiful

Last night, at my son's prompting, I saw the movie "Tree of Life."  Beautiful piece of cinematic art that left me considering God, love, and release.  I recommend it.


I could have taken the bus there, but the day was way beyond beautiful and I had the time to spare, so I walked the 2.4 miles there at a very leisurely Karen-ish pace (leisurely: 2.4 miles in an hour...no hurry, honey).  Discovered (and fell in love with) parts of Chicago I hadn't yet seen.  And relished the fact that getting out and moving is now a joy and a treat to me, not a chore or hardship.  (And afterward, since I was a woman out alone in the big city in the middle of the night, I rode the bus home, cuz being responsible about safety is also part of loving this body, eh?) 


Feasted on a spectacular salad before I went.  Sweet potatoes on the side were definitely good enough to seem like a dessert. 


I am learning:  taking care of this body - loving it in a manner appropriate to the fact that God loves it first and better than I do - it's a lot more fun than I ever would have imagined. 

And letting Him do the work in me?  About a thousand times easier than mustering the will to "be a better person."  Go God. 

delicious moments

How's the weather where you are?  It's warm here, and more importantly, muggy.  I have gotten so used to the beastly, horrible heat we recently had that 90+ just registers with me as "warm"...the body can be amazingly adaptable, eh?  So yesterday I walked home from work in the "warm" weather and when I arrived I discovered my hair was soaked almost entirely through with sweat.  I guess that's more like hot than warm, eh?


At supper the dining room was full.  I took my plate outside to enjoy the fresh air in the side yard.  There, I discovered that the sprinkler area was flooded.  Better yet...there were somehow, most amazingly, NO CHILDREN outside at all!  I quickly left my supper on a bench table, kicked off my flip flops and headed for the water.  Coooold at first touch, just up over the tops of my toes but not ankle-deep...delicious.  I waded, I watched the water ripple, I kicked and splashed.  It was only a minute or two, but I was cooled, refreshed and delighted like a child when I was done.  


Sometimes learning to love my body is just soaking up the moment.  I'm liking learning this stuff. 

jogging and where's the beef

This morning I woke up half an hour before the alarm, actually excited about my run.  I am just blown away that I could be excited about exercise...most especially running. 


This week's routine is (after 5 minutes of brisk walking to warm up) 3 rounds that look like:


9 minutes of running (jogging)
1 minute of walking

And then of course when I got back to the house there were those 6 flights of stairs to climb.  


I can jog for 9 minutes without stopping.  For realz!   Crazy, crazy, crazy.  


In other news, at last night's weekly cook-your-own charcoal grill night, by the time I got outside the beef patties were gone.  So I tried turkey patties.  I was reluctant, to put it mildly.  I LIKES MY HAMBURGERS, people.  But you know, they were good.  And I know they are quite a bit lower fat (read:  better for this body) than my beloved beef pattties.  


Here's to learning good things, even if I have to be forced to do so.