A couple of weeks ago, after my half marathon, I began to rethink my training.  Was I pushing too hard? was I being ridiculous?  Could I not just “go for a walk” and be happy?

For the two weeks after my half marathon I did next to no walking.  At least, no “training” walking as I tried to figure out how to work walking into a ridiculously busy schedule.  I decided to just relax about it, and give myself the time I needed to figure things out.

During that time, my hubby and I headed up to Quesnel, BC to attend a wedding.  While I was there I found a great book (at a crazy cheap price, I might add!) called Younger Next Year for Women: Live Strong, Fit, and Sexy – Until You’re 80 and Beyond The book is written for “seniors” and it terrifies me to realize that I am rapidly approaching that time of my life!  However, the information in it is incredibly important for everyone.

This is probably the funniest health book I’ve ever read, and it’s also one of the most accessible ones, as well.  The authors talk about the importance of exercise and pushing yourself just a little bit harder than comfortable in your later years.  I was deeply inspired and encouraged.

So…

Looks like I’ll be training for a marathon in October.  Now to just figure out how to fit the training in to this schedule…

Darlene

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Every now and then I come across a really cool book.  This is one of them:  The Truth About You: Your Secret to Success By Marcus Buckingham.

I read it as part of the “review and blog” team of Thomas Nelson, and liked it so much I did it with my kids for school.

The best part of it is that it gives you a whole different way of understanding strengths and weaknesses.  Strengths are not necessarily those things you do well, and weaknesses are not necessarily those things you’re not good at.  Sometimes your biggest greatest weakness appears to be a strength.

For example, I am really good at organizing.  I can come into a room, see what’s out of place, and figure out how to organize that room into something that functions smoothly.  I can also organize people, events, schedules, whatever.  You can show me total chaos, and I will create order quickly, and set up a system for maintaining it.

However, I HATE to do it.  When I look at a situation that needs that kind of management, I can feel myself actually “deflate”.  It takes real effort for me to dive in and do the work.  I can delegate it well, or draw up a plan to have others do it, and that’s fine, but to do it myself?  Yikes.  This is why my house isn’t exactly a poster home for Martha Stewart.

There are other things that really light my fire – like knitting, believe it or not – that I’m really bad at.  However, I love the rhythm of knitting, and the fact that you can see progress really quickly (well, others can.  I take it out just as often as I knit it up).

As a walking coach I can see really well how this applies to fitness.  Many of us choose  fitness program that we’re good at, or that’s “easy”, but we hate it, so we quit.  For me, walking has definitely been my strength.  It’s sometimes hard to get myself out the door, but as soon as I hit the front step, I’m on a roll.

The book shows you things you can do to avoid the areas of your weakness as much as possible, and live your life mostly in your strengths.  It’s written mostly to teenagers, but I got a lot out of it, and wish I had read it when I was MUCH younger.  It comes with a DVD and a special notepad to help you get started.

Pretty cool.  Read it through, and think about it as you’re working out.  Maybe your exercising in an area of your weakness instead of your strength.

Darlene

Sometimes circumstances don’t allow us to physically take a walk – injury, weather, illness. In times like these, “armchair walking” is a great way to go.

I’ve just taken a long armchair walk through the Holy Land by reading Reflections of God’s Holy Land: A Personal Journey Through Israel by Eva Everson, Miriam Vamosh. Fascinating.

I’ve never had the privilege of visiting the Holy Land myself (though it’s on my list of things to do) but after reading this book, I feel as though I’ve really been there.

First of all, the book is set up like a journey. The authors themselves have done a large part of their tour on foot.

Then there are the pictures – beautiful pictures that show the people, the places, the circumstances – and all laid out in such a way that you feel as if you’re traveling with the authors as they go from place to place.

The two authors have different specialties. Miriam Vamosh is a Jew and an aficionado of Jewish history. For each place visited Miriam writes a section called “Did You Know?” Instead of sharing long, detailed, boring essays on Jewish/Biblical history, she invites you to see and hear fascinating details and sometimes humorous tidbits about the significance of each place. She shares the mysteries surrounding the production of Balsam in Biblical times, and how the production of the precious oil was so secret that they even used contradicting descriptions of the plant so no one would really know where it came from.

She shares the symbolism behind the feeding of the 5,000, shows pictures of the mysteriously blackened stones on Mount Carmel that are reminders of the Holy Fire of Heaven coming down to consume Elijah’s offering, and the fact that Pelicans are an ancient symbol of the Eucharist. Her writing is not that of an historian, but of a gifted story-teller passionate about her subject. She draws me in.

Contrasting this, you have Eva Everson’s reflections of how God speaks to her through Miriam’s stories and through her physical surroundings. You hear how God prompts her spirit to remind her of forgotten promises, to gently nudge her conscience about areas of weakness, and to bring to light an even greater love for her, than she had first imagined.

All in all, this has been a fascinating walk through the Holy Land, led by two amazing and delightful writers.

A definite “must savour” for all for whom the Holy Land holds a special place.

Darlene

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