This Week

I don't have a ton of structure to these ideas, I just want to share some things that happened or that I noticed this week.


I am a much better runner than I was a year ago.
I still feel like I'm slow and weak but it's good to see where I've come from.  Earlier this week I reread all of my blog (it's not that long guys, I was awful at updating it last year) and I remembered I couldn't run 2 miles (flat, no incline!) on my first day last year.  Today I ran 2 miles at 12 minute pace with incline.  It was hard but I didn't let myself stop.  A year ago that would have been pretty much impossible.

I'm also much more flexible.
I've been so surprised by how quickly I'm improving just by stretching after every run!  I'm not trying out for Cirque Du Soleil anytime soon but my hamstrings aren't nearly as tight as they were 3 weeks ago, and (don't laugh) but I should be able to touch my toes soon!  I couldn't do that since high school.

I feel good when I work out.
Let me just be clear, I feel like a giant idiot in the gym because it seems like the top 10% of beautiful people in Pittsburgh work out there, but Greg reminds me pretty often that I pay the same fee they pay to be there and it's my gym as much as it is theirs.  Even though I'm not all that glamorous, I rarely ever leave the gym feeling worse than when I came in.  I'm really enjoying working out a lot more than I ever thought I would!

Working out can be a good time for worship.
Earlier this week one of my friends (who I met when she started volunteering at LIVING Ministry) posted about how working out can be worship on her Facebook page.  It was such a great reminder this week!  Working out makes us steward or bodies and time, reminds us to be humble, and is a great time to reflect on what Jesus went through for our redemption.  When the last mile or set seems impossible, it is good to remember that Christ went through much greater physical duress just for our salvation.  When we push ourselves (carefully obviously, don't hurt yourself!) it's a good time to reflect on the precious price of our salvation.

I should eat better.
I ate buffalo chicken dip this week for like 3 meals..well for what should have been a meal, BCD is not actually a meal.  Time to get back to thoughtful eating including veggies.  Running isn't just moving my legs quickly, it's a lot of before and after that too, including what I eat.



I'm really enjoying learning about how running is changing me mentally and physically.  It's a great reminder that when we work faithfully, God is faithful to change us!

If you would like to support me as I run the Pittsburgh Half Marathon for LIVING Ministry to share this message of hope in God's faithfulness, please visit our website (www.livingministry.org) and click on the Donate Now button on the left side of the page mentioning Jenna B Marathon in the comment section.  You can also send a check to our office (2536 Maple Ave, Pittsburgh PA 15214).

Thank you for reading along with my journey friends, time to eat (a healthy!) lunch!

Tension Chart

Last Christmas my brother-in-law Ed taught me about the tension chart.  The idea is there is a certain amount of tension between the things you say you want to do and the things you do.  Now, in the interest of transparency, I'm not a very good student.  I don't remember the way the chart actually looks but I'm making up my own chart for you to see!  I think about this principle often and this is what it looks like in my head:

Oooo man would you just LOOK at that graphic design.  Who knew my skill set would reach so far?!


Anyway, on with the tension chart. Ed mentioned the example that many people have a goal to lose weight.  But to lose weight you need to create new eating habits, start or change your exercise routine, possibly wake up at 5AM to get time to work out, maybe you need to log all of your food....it's a lot of work to reach that goal.  You have to change a lot of your old behaviors that don't jive with your new goal to reach it!  Someone who is likely to reach their goal would need a chart that looks like this:

Well friends, my goal is to run (not walk) the Pittsburgh Half Marathon this May. I am feeling the tension...and my chart for the last few days has not looked much like that inspiring chart above.  Currently my chart is looking a little more like:

Guys!  I'm a lightning bolt of danger!  I want to be a star! 

The reality I'm learning is that I am not necessarily super at change.  I want to change, but man do I love my old behaviors, I'm just so good at them! What are these old behaviors you ask?  Well watching Heros on Netflix is one...sleeping until the last possible minute is another. Really this boils down to the number one thing that I'm struggling with: making running and working out a priority.

Most days I get up for work with about 45 minutes to brush my teeth, figure out what to wear, get dressed, eat breakfast, pack lunch, and probably these days clean snow off the car.  That's assuming I showered at night, some mornings I might need to fit a shower in those 45 minutes too...yikes!  Then I go to work, like so many other people, all day .  Usually my day after work is pretty filled up, I might have about an hour between work and some kind of commitment in the evening.  If I get home between 9 and 10, I'm really just too tired to go to the gym.

So the only time I can run would be before I start those first 45 minutes.  I've really been struggling with getting up and getting myself moving, I'm just not good at it.  I know that I can get good at it(I'm being renewed, remember?!), but I'm still definitely a work in progress. 

Then there are nights when Netflix really does just call to me.  It says "Jenna, you've been running around for 3 days, why don't you just sit here and see what Sylar, Claire, Peter and the gang are up to?"  And you know what, I do it!  I just sit down and watch Heros because that's the show I'm watching these days.  And I don't run even one mile. Not one.  That's not too good for the old tension chart.

All this is to say, I want to be a super star, not a lightning bolt!  There isn't much more to this post than to come clean.  My chart is not in good shape, but with a little accountability it can get into good shape, and so can I!  Good enough, in fact, to run half a marathon.

...And with that, it's time to hit the gym.  30 minutes of strength training on the agenda for tonight and it's already almost 10.  But I've got a goal and I'm going to make it!