My girlfriend Gretchen and I have started exercising together in the morning. Both of us would like to be a shadow of our present selves and in the spirit of encouragement and accountability we decided, over two bottles of wine mind you, that we were going to get up at the un-Godly hour of 5:30am and start walking together. Or at least....that's what I thought. Come to find out Gretchen had a slightly different and more taxing idea.
Gretchen had already used the website www.coolrunning.com and their Couch to 5K program to do just that about a year or so ago. I remember when she did it how dang impressed I was that she had that type of dedication and will power. I'd always wished that I was that type of person. I remember seeing her running as I was headed to work and in my head cheering her on. I guess this would be a great time to also tell you that in addition to being a "go-getter", Gretchen is also a fantastic mother to 3 of the most adorable children you will ever meet, whom, by the way, she home schools, wife to a police officer, fun-loving aunt to 4 children, part time waitress at a local restaurant, one of the leaders of our worship band at church....the list goes on and on. Oh...did I mention the woman even makes her own laundry detergent?? She's like the friggin' hippie version of the Energizer Bunny!
So anyway, I show up at her house on Monday morning all ready to "walk." Well we did that for about 5 minutes. Then we jogged. Yes...you read it correctly....jogged. We kept up the "walk, jog, walk, jog" thing for about 20-25 minutes. Obviously I'm still alive to tell the tale but I have to tell you for a few minutes there I thought I was going to meet Jesus face to face before the morning was over. Gretchen was a great encourager....egging me on the whole way, understanding when I need to slow the pace a little. We never stopped, but man did I want to. When we finally finished and I drove home, I laid on my bed for a bit to catch my breath and it was then that I realized.....I did it! 3 miles! Never in a million years would I have done that on my own. It's just not in me. I love the way God puts people in your life exactly when you need them. I was so proud of myself the whole day and incredible thankful for Gretchen's friendship.
Then came the next morning. I now know what it feels like to be the victim of an animal stampede. My legs hurt sooooo badly that I could hardly get out of the bed. Going to the bathroom at work became a major decision as to whether I could hold it...or if it was really necessary to lift myself out of the chair and hobble to the bathroom only to squat in pain. I did wake up with a bad migraine and really couldn't go walking again so I rested yesterday. We went again this morning before work. It was a bit easier this time and again.....Gretchen helped me through it. I feel like I've actually taken a little bit of control over something that has had control over me for such a long time. Life is good.....and so are great friends :)
