Wings like eagles

God has been incredibly good to me. Yes, even in the midst of having cancer. Maybe even one day I can be glad that it happened to me.

I have been turning into more of a runner these days. The very thought cracks me up. Me??! The girl who absolutely hated "running day" in Junior High?  I can't help but giggle at myself when I'm doing it. I don't even recognize this person!  I picked up a copy of a running magazine a few weeks ago and read it cover to cover. I even filled out the little annoying subscription card that kept falling out of it and sent it in. I'm learning the lingo, too.

I've even verbally committed to my first half marathon!  A friend of mine suggested it. She has a few of these races under her belt. This one is the "Tinkerbell" and it is run in and around Disneyland. Its a women only race next January.  I looked at the information on the website and they say you have to maintain a 16 minute mile or risk being picked up. Heck, I could walk faster than that. By January, I will have 60 miles in 3 days under my belt.

But I might even be able to run the 13 miles!  Its hard for me to do street running because of Jean-Marc. I don't have a jogger stroller, and I've run a little with our cheap rickety umbrella stroller and it is not very stable. It's easier to go to the gym and run on the treadmill.  But that masks how far you are really going. Yesterday morning, I took to the streets with a cool app on my iPhone, Log Your Run.  This app has a GPS thingie in it that can track where you are, how far you are going, your mileage, pace, etc.  I had a couple of hours to myself because the kids spent the night at my mom's house. I ended up doing 7.5 miles!  I do confess that I had to walk part of it on some very steep hills in La Costa.  If it had been all flat or less intense hills, it would have been no problem to run the distance.

I don't really know how to train to run, but had read somewhere about how to mix up your runs so you don't get bored and so that you get more out of your exercise time. So I ran 2 miles on the treadmill with a variable hill program. Then I did Jillian Michael's leg circuit which takes about 20-25 minutes. It's constant squats and lunges. Then I ran 2 more miles at no incline. The last mile I did at a pretty fast pace. Running after the leg exercises is supposed to simulate the fatigue in your legs after a longer run.

I was marveling at this last week while running on the treadmill at the gym. I kept thinking about the scripture in Isaiah and personalizing it as if it were written just to me.  She who waits on the Lord shall renew her strength. She will be lifted up on wings like eagles. She will run and not grow weary.  She will walk and not grow faint. (Is. 40:13)  I can't help but rejoice and praise the Lord as I am running and feeling like I am flying like an eagle. I am not even 3 months out of cancer treatment and am feeling so....well.  I am even thinking of my cancer in the past tense, even though I have the constant reminders that it was a part of my life.  Things like my scars and the lymphedema. But as for the rest of it, I'm running like a healthy person.  Because I AM a healthy person. God has strengthened me and sustained me through this trial.  He even prepared me for it ahead of time.  It would have been SO much harder if I had been out of shape and not already into a habit of exercise when I was diagnosed. But He knew this was coming, and I believe He planted the desire in my heart to lose weight and get fit. There was a battle ahead.  Any and all success in my health both before, during and after cancer treatment I credit 100% to the Lord.

There will be more battles ahead in this life. More trials. More difficulties. That is an absolute. But God will be there with me giving me whatever strength and aid that is required for me to fight it. Words fail to describe how full that makes my heart. I am thrilled to be called His!

Here is a Word for us all:

⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing. (2 Timothy 4:7-8, New King James Version)  

Hallelujah!