I shared with my husband my goal of running 100 miles in 100 days the day before I decided to start. He did not say much but was supportive of the idea. Before embarking on this personal challenge I also said a prayer. I prayed that God would provide everything I needed to succeed in this goal. I prayed for his provision.

I’m sure you are familiar with the experience of setting a goal and then having odd scenarios pop up to knock you down. How many times have you started the day thinking that you were going to eat healthy or start a diet, then you arrive to work and it’s a food day, a birthday, or the boss is treating everyone to donuts and coffee in the morning and free pizza for lunch? Ugh!  It seems to happen this way for me EVERY TIME. Each time I set out with good intent, there are no doubt road blocks and temptations that pop up and try to take me down.  So I prayed.

Lately, I’ve even been keeping a journal of my prayers. I write down my requests and how God answers them. It helps me to see that God IS LISTENING and that He is ACTIVELY engaged with what I’m going through in life. It helps me to notice all the little miracles in my otherwise mundane daily activities and one of these little miracles happened on Sunday.

Day one of my challenge (9/1/19), my husband, my daughter, and I were out at the mall killing some time. We go there for the free play place for Katherine. My husband suggested going to a shoe store and encouraged me to try on some new running shoes. My current running shoes are 7 years old with holes on the sides but they are still comfortable and still have a little tread left on them. I’m actually very attached to them. I even have them in a couple of my wedding photos. Every pair of shoes I’ve tried on as a potential replacement …just… have not felt right.

While in the shoe store, Katherine begins to act up. We wore her out, and now she needs a nap. We considered leaving at that moment. The gentleman helping us in the store was a father himself and did not seem bothered by Katherine’s irritability. He said confidently that he had a shoe he thought I would like. The first pair he brought out was decent but the second pair he brought out was even better!!! “They are the most light weight shoe on the market,” He said with a smile. It literally felt like I was wearing a sock. For a runner, THAT IS AMAZING!!! There’s nothing worse than having heavy feet when you go for a run.  I FINALLY found a replacement shoe to put on my wish list…maybe for Christmas !!! With that, Katherine began crying uncontrollably so I excused myself and stepped out of the store with her.

Now I am married to a VERY LOVING man but he is frugal. He is good with money and this strong suit of his has helped us in life. BUT, on Sunday HE walked out of that shoe store with a big smile on his face and a new pair of shoes for me!!! He smiled as he handed me the bag!!! I’m tearing up as I write this and the love that I feel. I did not even need the shoes. But I am blessed and God provides. He provides even when it’s a WANT and not a need. There’s a verse in Matthew that talks about the good things that God has in store for his children. All we need to do is ask for his blessing and its ours! I am blessed because God is good and so is my husband!
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Read about God’s Provision for YOUR LIFE in Matthew 6:25-34, 7:8-11

Life starts over again when you have a child. You pour 100% of your time and your energy into this little precious child. But then it happens, they begin to start taking care of themselves. They are no longer reliant on you as they were in infancy. So what do you do with your time? You rebuild your life from the ground up. You ask yourself what you need most and re-prioritize life now that your own interests and needs are given room to breathe.
 
This is the turning point, or the crossroads, I’m currently at. My beautiful bundle of joy is 13 months old and no longer needs me nearly as much as she did just a couple months ago. While it’s amazing how a child can develop over the course of time, it’s refreshing to NOT be NEEDED 24/7.
 
In this moment, I have a decision to make. What do I want to do with, dare I say it, the spare time that is developing? RUN. No, no, no! Not in a sarcastic ‘get out of dodge’ sense, but run. What I’m lacking is true physical activity. I need to bring exercise back into the picture for my overall health and wellbeing. It is something I enjoy and want to get good at again. I’ve managed a couple 5K’s in the past few months, but I struggled through them.  I’m soooooooooooo over that. Sayonara! Let the re-training begin!
 
So here’s my goal, just to get back in the game, I’m going to run 100 miles in 100 days. Sound easy? Theoretically it is. I know that there are going to be days that I will have to double up on my runs due to my “Mom Schedule” and work schedule. But it is a very do-able and realistic goal for me to start with. Why am I sharing this? I need YOU to hold me ACCOUNTABLE.
 
Let DAY ONE begin!

“Any exercise is better than none and more is even better.”
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I saw this quote while at my doctor’s office. It came from author and physician Robert H. Lustig.  His encouraging words stuck with me and the message of this quote is worth sharing.

This quote is impactful simply because there is so much discouraging content around us. You don’t even have to look for it. It’s right in front of you at any given moment of any given day and the source of it can be surprising.
Twice while reading a health/fitness magazine I remember felling like a load of bricks was dumped on my heart, and all ambition and hope was drained from me. One article argued that if your work-out is a minuet short of 25, that it is useless. The second article argued that if you are not consistent with how often you work out, you are doing your body more harm than good. Both came as a big let down to me but  I managed to pick myself back up despite the discouraging things I read.

The first article reported that if all you do is a 10 min workout, that it is of very little benefit to the human body, and you might as well not be doing one at all. The theory is, that you need to keep your heart rate elevated for a minimum of 25 minutes to obtain any cardiac benefit from a work-out.  When I read the article, I only had an extra 10-15 minutes in the morning. “What’s the use?” I thought to myself. I wanted to scratch my previously planned 15 min work out from my day planner and give up. But…I refused to give up on my goal. I continued to tell myself that my 10-15 minutes a day had to be doing SOMETHING good for my body. Maybe it was not benefiting my heart the way it should be, but maybe it’s helping with my blood sugar, stress relief, increased metabolism, with stronger muscles and stronger bones, and lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, improved brain health, and energy throughout the day. SOMETHING GOOD HAS TO BE COMING FROM MY SMALL WORK-OUTS. Besides, everybody needs a starting point.

The second magazine article had reported that if all you end up doing is a workout once every 10 days, you do your body more harm than good. What?!?! Hit  with a brick again! If I ever had time for a “real gym work-out”, it wasn’t very often. Any time I tried to make it part of my routine, attendance would be spotty. “How do people do it?” I thought to myself. Then the answer came to me. One step at a time, like I had already been doing.

Two years ago I ran across a very good book written by Jeff Olson called the Slight Edge. He offered a lot of encouragement through this book and his philosophy was that if you start small, and build upon it every day, you will have success in whatever your venture is. Ah-ha! Someone who thought the same way I did! Small steps equal big achievements. I’ve always believed this. So I began to build on top of my 10 minuet work-out.

My small step, my little something, was a daily goal of 25 push ups (do-able for my new baby-holding mom arms), and to begin running 0.25 miles, then 0.50, then 0.75, and so on. Currently I am running 5 k’s and have mastered a grand total of 25 push-ups a day and plan to continue building on this.
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So if all you have is 10 minutes a day, every other day for a work-out, DO IT. Start there and grow it. Don’t beat yourself up and tell yourself you’ll never achieve your work-out goals. Just start with what is practical, and achievable, and build from there. Celebrate your successes, and continue to set goals for yourself in a stair step fashion. Just focus on one little advancement at a time. That is how success happens for the busy mom and homemaker. That is how a healthy body is claimed for ourselves.  That is how we become so awesome and remain so balanced. Now, go show the world what’s up and who’s BOSS!