Run for Their Lives

Yesterday, I met with a personal fitness trainer and came up with an exercise plan. Of course I want to feel good, be healthy, and look good, but there is another reason. A more important reason. I want to live my entire life-- work, fitness, hobbies, relationships-- to help others know the love of God. It's a goal that I have been working harder at during the past few weeks and want to continue to do.

One issue that is particularly close to my heart is human trafficking. Worldwide, there are women and girls forced into prostitution. In Nicaragua, there are little girls (I'm talking as young as 6 years old!) sold into prostitution by their own families. In Thailand, there are over 60,000 sexual service centers. Little girls. Little boys. Women. Many of those women are sent by their families at a young age to work in brothels in order to provide food for their families. (Makes the US economy look a whole lot better, right?)

I am going to run in a 5K called "Run for their Lives" on October 20, 2012. This race is part of Freedom 4/24.

For three years, I have wanted to go on a ministry trip to the House of Hope in Nicaragua, but finances have not allowed me to do that. I may not have the financial means to go, but I can use the body God has given me to support this ministry. Maybe that's best. Baby steps.

The race is in 76 days! I now have a fitness goal and an exercise plan. It's going to be intense. Before, all I was doing was going for walks with either Aaron, our dog, or one of my friends. Sometimes we would walk 2-4 miles. I love walking. But then it got hot and I haven't been doing anything physically active. I'm trying to build up my running endurance (which used to be like 1/4 mile-- how sad!).

-Warm up (walk on treadmill at brisk pace 10 min)
-Days 1 & 3: Arms (the arm machines... I don't know what they're called, but there are about 7 of them)  3 sets of 15 reps with 30 second rest between
-Days 2 & 4: Lower body (abs/legs... again, machines, also situps on an exercise ball) 3 sets of 15 reps with 30 seconds rest between
-30-60 min of cardio. I prefer the treadmill. Running/walking. I want to make a new goal to add like 3-5 more minutes to my running time. I'll be on the treadmill for 60 minutes regardless. Right now I can run about 10 minutes, then I need to slow down, then I can run more, then slow down and walk again. I want to gradually shift that mix to more running and less walking. I figure if I add 3 munutes per week to the 15 I can run now, I'll be running 45 minutes straight by the time of the race.


I have a friend from middle school who also went to the same college as me. She's an avid runner. She runs every day. I'm talking like 10 miles every morning. She loves it. She's in races every couple of months. It's her favorite thing. I would like to get to that point... She gave me some tips. She said the exercise machines will help strengthen the muscles, thus adding endurance. She said to aim for time right now and at least walk and throw in a few minutes of running here and there, gradually adding to the running time and lessening the walking time. I'm going to aim for an hour per day. Yesterday, I only did 25 min. I ran 10, walked 15. And I felt like I would die. Haha. But I'm going to get better at it!

Another resource I'm going to use for nutrition information is Runner's World.