So it wasn't my running...

So it wasn't my running that caused my lungs to feel like they need to be scraped with an ice scraper. Last night, I had a fever of over 100.5. This morning, it was over 101.3. My throat and lungs are wheezing and tightening.

As much as I really wanted to go running today (snicker...snicker), I decided I need to get the fever and breathing under control.

Hopefully, I'll be hitting the road in just a few short days!

Update on Today's Run

So, I did what I set out to do.

I ran 2.33 miles in 30 minutes (I walked 2/10's of that). Made my goal of mile 1 in 12 minutes. Walked a minute, then ran mile 2 and walked for the remainder of the time. Then, I walked the 1/2 mile home (technically, I did 3 miles, but didn't track it).

I checked out my heart-rate monitor - maxed at 193 bpm's. Avg 168 for the 30 mins. Speaking of that...gotta take it off!

I didn't have any major issues. I did notice that I breathe really loud when I'm not in shape...just an observation!

Still in Training...

Wow. When I wrote my last post, I was talking about running through all the doubts and fears that I've been struggling with. That same evening, I was confronted with some things that I didn't want to hear, but so needed to hear them. It broke me. I feel like I walk in complete ignorance and so oblivious to situations around me. How can I walk and not realize what I'm doing? That is what I've been wrestling with for the past week.

So, I run. I'm running to confront those things. I'm running to think through those things. I'm running to find peace in these situations. Ultimately, God is my source of strength and the sustainer of all things for me, but running, that's my outlet. It's my "physical" response to the spiritual going on around me.

That brings me to today. I have been in the beginning phases of training for a Thanksgiving Day 5k. I will be running with my sister and her husband. I'm not sure who else may be running, but the 3 of us are embarking on this task.

• Treadmill - $725.00
• Running Shoes and a heart-rate monitor - $130.00
• Sustenance - Water Bottle
• Motivation - Kutless on the IPod
• Satisfaction of knowing that I can run 2 miles and not die - PRICELESS!

Today, I'm going outside. In a few minutes, I will don my running clothes, heart-rate monitor, RoadID bracelet and asthma inhaler and hit the road - literally. I'm going for 2 easy miles today. Just want to feel out these lungs - they've not been right since my run yesterday. I'll leave you with that!

Today...I Ran.

Today...I ran.

It was only for half a mile, but I ran. I got up and decided ... today is the day I will run. I donned my running gear and took-off out the door, past the driveway and down the road. The goal - 1/2 mile. Run straight, run hard. No slowing. No complaining. No worrying about the burning tightening in my chest from my lungs. Just run. And that's what I did.

My heart was racing. My lungs were wheezing...my breathing, labored. But that's ok. Now that I'm at home typing this blog (and catching my breath), I realize "THAT WASN'T SO BAD!".

I've been fighting with some "demons" in my mind and in my body for way too long. It's time to stop allowing them to control me and take control.

Man's biggest fear is not heights or depths, not spiders or bees...it's what's inside them. My biggest fear is facing my own thoughts, my own fears, my own insufficiencies, my own incapacity to accomplish anything. Something about sitting in your home for hours, days, weeks, even months...there's no more running away...it's time to face my biggest fear - MYSELF.

That's what brings me to where I'm at today. I'm facing my fears and failures. I'm no longer allowing them to cage me inside my own self. It's time to get out - TO RUN - to push through the fears and even the pain...to find in the end, I am not a failure. I am not caged...

I AM FREE!