Sunday, September 14, 2008

New Beginnings

Autumn always brings with it a sense of anticipation. Winter is the season you endure, and Spring heralds Summer, which is the season of rest and play. But Autumn is the season of new beginnings. It's time to pack away the swimsuits and beach gear but not yet time for scarves and mitts. The leaves turn brilliant shades of red and gold; the morning air is crisp and fresh. Kids go back to school and churches start up their programs again.

After today's church service, I feel like I'm ready for something new. Pastor Bob talked about growing and maturing in Christ and how that requires involvement and commitment. I often find myself not wanting to invest my time and energies into anything, though I'm not quite sure what I'm waiting for. I do want to be more involved at church this year and I'm excited about what that may look like.

With exciting changes taking place at work and the possibility of new friendships and ministries at church, I am looking forward to this next season.

Thursday, September 04, 2008

The Hills

Today I ran my first set of hills.
In my half-marathon training plans there were several weeks of scheduled hill training - running up and down hills to build endurance. (I imagine non-runners who think running is a bit pointless already shaking their heads over the idea of running up and down the same hill over and over.) Being a bit on the lazy side when it came to my training, however, I never ran one set. I didn't think there were any hills near enough to my house and I didn't want to have to drive somewhere just to go running.
Recently though, I noticed that the block between Kingsmere and Acadia Drive is a good little hill. (Not sure how I overlooked that one, as I drive it almost every day.)
So tonight I ran. Choking on exhaust at times, but I ran. (I think I may have to start running in the morning to avoid inhaling so many traffic fumes.) And it felt good.
All in all it was a 41 min run that felt like 15 minutes.
I'm thinking about running a 10k in early October and would love to break the 1 hour mark. For middle-of-the-pack runners like myself, 1 hour is kind of a benchmark time. I don't think I'm fast enough yet, but with a month of training I'm hoping to be able to shave off those extra minutes.