Temple to temple 5K

This morning Rae Anna and I did the Temple to Temple 5K. We walked from the Provo temple downhill 3 miles to the City Center Temple. See the spire of the Provo temple in the background here?


There was a crowd of 15-17,000 people.

And then we got to the start line

Families and kids, strollers and scooters. It was pretty fun.

Missionaries were the volunteers along the route, handing out water and directing the flow.

This old guy decorated up his tricycle like a covered wagon. Pretty cute.

This young guy decorated up his stroller like a covered wagon, and had a horse pulling it in the front.

Sister missionaries were greeting walkers as we went by

Here he is again.

At the end Jim's cousin, Robin, met up with me and we took our picture together. She's been an inspiration to me this past year. As she's gone on a get-healthy journey of walking and eating better, she's lost weight and is looking good.

And here we are at the Provo City Center Temple. We made it!

Rae Anna's husband, Kim, dropped us off at the start, cheered for us along the way, and met us at the end. I appreciate his support!

Goal reached

This past week I met my goal of walking 15 miles. Here are some pictures of some of the lovely mornings around here.

This is a cat in the irrigation field. I imagine it's waiting for the mice to be chased out of their holes by the water so it can pounce.

And here's a nice gaggle of geese on the pond.

And here you have it: Done!

Next goal: 15 miles by the end of the month, or next week.

Chart

This is the chart I'm going to use this week. I'll see how many squares I can fill. I'll post a picture of the chart at the end of the week.

If my scales are right, I may have lost 5 pounds.

I've got 5 of my 15 miles done. One-third of the way there. I missed walking on Thursday and Friday, but on Saturday I did the "run" assignment from Runkeeper, which was to "run" for 1/4 mile, walk 1/4 mile, run 1/4 mile and walk 1/4 mile. When I finished that, I walked another mile to get back home.

Walking and progress

I did it. I completed my third set of 10 miles. Each one has taken me about 12 days to complete.

Now I've set the goal to walk 15 miles by the end of July. I love the beauty of where I live.

This cute little guy was guarding the wagon wheel in someone's yard.

The pond has a lot of trashy scum in it.

The past few days I've been sleeping a lot again. I realized yesterday that part of it is because I hadn't been eating regularly. I was hungry and my energy level was low. I did eat lunch today, so that was good. Haven't had much of a dinner tonight. And the 30-day "Lean" thing is getting to be a bit much. Here's what I think I can handle of it:

1. Drink lots of water

2. Have a hearty breakfast

3. Eat an apple

4. Have some nuts each day

5. No more dairy milk

6. Put a little flax on it.

7. Take a vitamin each day

8. Exercise

9. Eat a salad or a green smoothie each day

And here are things that I think I can incorporate once the previous things are routine:

1. Have a little fun

2. Do something purposeful

3. Meditate

4. Love on yourself
5. Lift weights

The first things are straightforward, check-off-your-list types of things. The second things are more subjective. It reminds me of being able to admit I have a heart problem, but not admit that depression and anxiety are a constant struggle. That's the difference between the first set and the second set. The first seems "fixable." The second seems abstract and open to interpretation. Except the weights. The weights are doable; it'll just take time. I guess that means the rest of it is doable, too.

Day By Day

I've found two books that I'm liking what they teach, and this week I've started doing each of their programs. The first is an eight-week course in meditation. The title of the book is You Are Not Your Pain. I ordered it from Amazon and it came with a CD that has eight ten-minute meditations on it, one for each of the eight weeks. So on Sunday night I started doing the first meditation. You're supposed to do it twice a day for at least six of the seven days each week. I missed last night. Too tired. I missed this morning. Too much commotion. I tried it after lunch. It was good but I was sleepy and my mind wasn't staying focused. I plan to do it again tonight.

The other book is called The Lean: A Revolutionary (and Simple!) 30-Day Plan for Healthy, Lasting Weight Loss by Kathy Freston. It's on the online library on my phone. It is exactly what the title suggests, and it's perfect for me right now. The whole idea is that you "lean" into healthy habits, adding a new one each day for 30 days. I know I may miss a day and need to spend more time on a day here and there, but I feel like this is the answer to my prayer to get healthy before my doctor appointment next month. I know I won't get healthy in a month, but if I do the things this suggests, I'll have a good start, and my hope is that my blood cholesterol levels will have dropped below 200 so I won't have to go on medication. I've already resigned myself that if I do have to go on medication then I'll get over it.

So on Monday I drank lots of water. Yesterday I ate oatmeal with raisins and fresh strawberries and almond milk for breakfast. Today I've done those two things plus eaten an apple. (Actually I've done those three things each of the past three days.) Tomorrow's assignment will be the hardest so far: "Clean out the cupboards, and just for today say no to your poison." But, hey, you know, it's something I've gotta do, and why not start sooner rather than later. What are my poisons? Well, cookies and chips are probably the two biggest. After tomorrow it'll be pretty easy for a few more days again. Day 5 is Go a little nuts; Day 6 is Trade your milk and butter for plant-based versions; Day 7 is Put a little flax on it; Day 8 is Meditation; Day 9 is Switch up your drinks; and then we get to Day 10: Make your lunch without animal products. So that's when I'll have to avoid meat, cheese, milk and eggs for two meals of the day. And it won't be until Day 18 that I have to take them out of dinner, too. Anyway, it'll be good for me.

In the meantime, I'm on my third set of 10 miles as far as walking. I've also signed up to do a beginning running program. I've learned that when I track the program on my phone as a run, it counts toward the run; when I track it as a walk, it counts toward my ten miles. But I only signed up for the running program for one day a week, and my plan is to do it on Fridays. Last week it was 10 minutes long; this week it'll be 12 minutes long. Basically you alternate "steady" (walking fast or trying to jog) with "slow" (walking) in one-minute rotations for the designated time. I did the 12-minute one this morning, but I counted it as my walk rather than the run. I'm to the point now where I can run faster than I can walk, which is a first for me, so that's pretty awesome.

As I'm starting on this road to recovery, and figuring out who I am and where I want to go in life, I've decided to look at some 10-year goals. I'm still thinking about them and I'll share them when I'm ready. I'm wanting to organize my time and increase my study time and service time. I may sign up for some of BYU's continuing education free classes online.