Bringing workout clothes

Not exactly sure what the camp grounds will be like at the youth camp I'm leaving for in the morning, but i'm taking running shoes and 3 pairs of workout clothes. I guess I'll have to scratch the two days of cross-training unless I get in on some handball or volleyball or something going on. Guess we'll see. Won't have internet access and I'm excited about that. I like unplugging from the modern world once in awhile and escaping to a place where no one can reach you.

Ta ta for now!

Jen

Last minute

At the last minute, my friend Anett asked me to do a presentation on pop-culture and self-image and another workshop on the USA. She just told me yesterday and we leave on Saturday morning. I'm just now hearing that I need to bring a sleeping bag (which I don't have) and some other things I am going to need. I figured she would let me know sooner than this, but that's what I get for not asking. Feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment and having to put together one power point on the USA from scratch. I'll get to talk about how I ended up in Hungary for these last two years. Looking forward to most of this camp, but also a little overwhelmed.

Excited to see what the camp is like. Not looking forward to not understanding half of it. Interested to see how translation will go in the meetings when I talk. Excited to see about their ropes course that apparently is a big hit. Excited to look for running trails in an unknown and new part of Hungary.

Have a great week everyone, whatever you find yourself doing.

Believe.....

I absolutely love this and if I could paint it, I would.

The ocean background reminds me of the vast amount of things I don't understand or know about myself, the world, my God. Yet every time I choose to trust and believe in God's goodness and His promises, I find myself sailing out on those waters. And I guess that's the point.

Once Jesus told some men to drop their nets and follow Him. He took them to places that were most likely uncomfortable. But these men were stellar. They believed without knowing all the details, without knowing how it would turn out.

And I find myself in that same place. I have to believe. Where else can I go? Who else has the words of life? No one I know but Jesus.

Youth Camp and other happenings

A Hungarian friend of mine, Anett, asked if I would help her at her annual Christeens youth camp next week. I found out we'll travel near Pecs, a city in Southern Hungary and just west of it is a city called Kaposvar. We will be there for a week and I get to lead a Bible study small group for girls who are advanced in their English. They also asked if I would do a workshop on Pop-culture and Self-image. I'm excited about it.
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I was so glad to read that the Red Sox atleast won the last game in the three game series with the Yanks. It's showtime! Red Sox are the epitome of baseball, I think. They are the true blue American team. They are all passion, heart and soul. Love 'em. Those are my peeps.
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My creative juices have been flowing recently as I've had a little more time to write, practice guitar, and even came close to bringing out paints yesterday. This week things are slow. I'm an active person so that's not good. The next few days I have a few meetings with girls and then I'll need to pack for the trip but other than that, things are a bit ho-hum, which makes me think of home.
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I miss family terribly but my phone bills were so high from April through June that I can't afford to call as much and that's just a bummer. Thank God for Skype, which is free but even after two years of living here my family at best only minimally understands how to sms or talk through the FREE skype. Instead, I set up a Las Vegas area code skype number (I still am amazed at how these things work) and they can call my skype, but it charges me. Even though it's minimal compared to using cell phones (I've done that too and ouch), it still costs to stay in touch.
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The weather in Budapest has been quite irregular I guess compared to other summers. But I don't mind it at all! The cooler breeze, the rain, the clouds are fine for me. Really hot weather can be unbearable sometimes.
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Thinking a lot about the future these days and I'm in a really good place. Although once in awhile fears try and creep in, for the most part, I'm confident that things will unfold this next year in a great way. There's nothing to fear but fear itself.

1/2 marathon training plan in effect

Last week I started a 6 week training plan for a 1/2 in September.

Although I really don't like running, I decided I want to plan to have different events to focus on throughout the year. Maybe a few sprint tris, a few 1/2's and Noel and I talked about the duathlon, where you just focus on two events. So maybe. I really want this to be a lifetime habit and design for me and in order for that to happen, I have to have a goal to work towards. That's just the way I operate. So, I think a 1/2 is something doable and helps me get better at what has now become my real love - the Sprint Tri. I had so much fun in London I can hardly believe its over.

Yesterday I ran 5 miles, my long run. This plan is great and will effectively land me at 10 miles for the long run the week before the 1/2. I'm excited about it.

I want to make exercising a part of my life until I die. I like feeling healthy and I don't want to go backwards. But I'm the type of person that if I don't make a plan and if I don't have people around encouraging me, it's tough. There was a time after college -- a long time -- where I just sort of let myself slip and I was up and down, struggling alot. I think it will always be a constant battle because of my body type. I found out, while taking this online course I'm in, that I'm an Endomorph. And our distinguishing characteristics include the following:
Short neck
Round face
Wide waist girth
More fat in the body
People belonging to this body type have a tendency to put on body fat at a fast rate. So, basically I'm not the type of body that can get away with much. And that's just really unfortunate because I love good food and a nice glass of wine. I have to always be thinking about healthy exercising and even what I eat. That's probably harder for me because I love eating all the stuff that is fatty. But apparently, a balanced diet is important to keep my body type -- the Endomorph in shape.

Lisa and I went to the International School's weight room over the weekend. It was great to talk about weights with her and learn from her. She's going to come up with some sort of a 3 day a week weight training plan that I can do in my flat. Since I don't have a gym membership or access to weights, this has been the toughest for me. But I realize that to get rid of overall problem areas its time to genuinely and consistently introduce the weights. :D I'm excited about it. I work well with goals and plans. I'm glad to say this one's in effect.

A quote to help this heart trust....

Right now I'm thankful for God's unfailing love and desperate to see it working more fully throughout my life and world.
"The one thing you can trust God to do in your life is to love you every minute you are a live. God may not bring you a perfect job, a perfect person, a perfect fortune or perfect success every day you are alive. You may trust God to do all these things for you but you will be disappointed because of all the 'jobs' God does for you -- loving you unconditionally is His main 'job' in your life. What is it we must trust God to do or not do? What we must trust God to do is love us. In all the tough and sometimes terrible circumstances of our life, the one thing we need the most is to be loved. We can have our worries, doubts, and fears, but if we are loved, we can deal with our worries, doubts, and fears. We all have our limitations, but if we are loved, we can work around our limitations if we are honest about them. When you turn away from your sinful distrust of God and trust Him to always love you, He comes to be with you and He pours His love over your life."

This weekend

Sometimes I think that one of the best ways God shows His kindness is through like-minded friends.

I just met Lisa at the beginning of the summer because she teaches at the International School in Budapest. My pastor's wife suggested I hang out with her because she's done triathlons and loves running. It's been great to get to know Lisa and find that she truly is such a like-minded and like-spirited friend.

Friday night Lisa and I had a chance to go to Spinning class near her house. I've been excited to try it for quite some time now as my previous experience with spin class is that it's an all out butt-whoopin. The guy who led the class was pro and did a great job. I was sweating like crazy! He had the perfect music to go with the perfect sets -- almost. His 2 splits were KILLING me. Cycle two rounds standing/cycle two rounds sitting -- on and on for who knows how long. Brutal! One funny thing -- he lit tealight candles and placed them around the room. Then he turned off all the lights. I've never been in a spin class in the dark. That was kind of ---odd. Of course the entire class was in Hungarian so we had to just keep our eyes on the instructor and do what he did. Lisa and I both agreed it was a great workout!

That night we went back to her place and watched a movie called "My Date With Drew". If you haven't seen it, it's hilarious. It's based on a true story of a guy in LA who has had a crush on Drew Barrymore since he was 6 years old and it's basically a documentary about how an ordinary average guy gets a date with drew in 30 days (more like 85 or something, but yeah). It's a pretty great story and the guy is endearing.

Saturday morning we got up leisurely and had coffee while reading our Bibles together. Then we started talking about our lives and all the things we've been learning recently. It was great. We had talked about going for a run or working out at the school gym and we opted to workout in the weight room at the International School. Lisa has keys and has access all year long! She was teaching me some things and is going to send me a weight training plan. She used to be a personal trainer in the states and I wanted to know more about that. It was interesting to hear her perspective that it can get frustrating and overwhelming when people either depend on you or want you to kick their butts but they aren't willing to do the little things that really matter. I've been taking an online personal trainers course for my own benefit and my plan is to finish and take the test by the end of the year. I am debating actually going further with it because I really do love all this stuff and it keeps me accountable. It was good to talk to her about all of this.

We came back from the weight room and had the healthiest lunch that I've had in a long time! I was so impressed but she told me it wasn't common for her. Salmon, delicious salad and toast. It was great. We had a great time. All I have to say is I'm thankful for like-minded people in my life that serve as anchors. She encouraged me and I think I encouraged her too. She wants me to come and maybe talk in one of her classes this Fall and go with her to a Science exhibition on the body in September as a class chaperone. I hope that works out. It would be great.

Spin class tonight and question

So this weekend I'm going to hang out with Lisa just outside of Budapest. We'll go to spin class tonight and make it a girls movie night. Looking forward to it! I love our conversations too so I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun.

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If you have a good strength training program that you follow religiously, would you mind sending it my way? I am good at following a plan. The Sprint Tri plan worked great and I'm on track with the 1/2 marathon. Unfortunately I've realized that I have completely neglected strength training not because I don't want to (OK, it isn't my favorite) but because I don't go to a gym or have a gym membership so I just have free weights, a mat and a balance ball at home. I need some type of (M/W/F) plan of some sort to follow because otherwise I will never reach my goal of getting toned and losing some of the extra love handle areas.

Thanks guys.

Have a great weekend.

A Spin class postponed

Last night I was going to meet Lisa for a spin class she's been telling me about. It's every Monday, Wednesday, Friday night at 8 pm and she loves it. I haven't been for a long time and I was ready to feel the burn!

It takes about an hour and 15 minutes to get to where I was going to meet Lisa. She picked me up at a bus stop and from there we traveled another 15 minutes. When we got to the little gym the lady said in Hungarian,
"Sorry ladies. No class tonight. The lady who does it just had her baby."

Hate it when the spin class instructor has her baby! (just kidding.)
I was surprised she was teaching the class all the way up until her final term! Good for her. Apparently she was a really good instructor too. So I asked

"When will be the next class?" (in Hungarian)

"Penteken" (on friday) and that a new lady would be teaching it.

Lisa and I were so ready, so prepared for spin class but since we were there we decided to work out anyways. I haven't worked out in a gym in a very long time. All my training has been outdoors except for swimming. I jumped on the bike for 30 minutes and did stair/stepper thingys for 15 minutes. We talked for a lot of that time and on the car ride back to the bus stop. The conversation was soooo good (all about guys and how do we live our lives as single woman who choose to trust God and not be the modern day "pursuers" that are out there. Lots of good nuggets exchanged and mutual encouragement) We both agreed it's tougher to be the woman. The fact that we both are women didn't seem to sway our biased sentiments. :D) It was such a good conversation that she ended up giving me a ride all the way home. Awesome!

I'm sure there's a spin class that's closer to me but the problem is finding it with the language barrier. Even looking online doesn't help because most sites are in Hungarian. I may have found one but then there is the problem that you hope you read things right and when you get down there you hope it's easy to communicate. The company of the familiar is often most enjoyable. And then again, the company of the familiar can also deliver their child and cause rescheduling to occur. :D So it's sort of a win-win situation as I look at it....er.

A lil' somethin'

Have you ever listened to a song over and over again when you first hear it because you love it so much? That would be me with a song I blogged about a few weeks ago by Simon Webbe called "Coming Around Again." LOVE it. I kept hitting replay while running to it today. It's a great running song!

The weather looked bleak outside this morning but I determined to get something in and the training plan only called for 2.5 miles. Yes, I REALLY started the training plan today. Yesterday I called everything off - took a sick day. I don't like the feeling of being held back because I'm sick. I would never make a good hypochondriac. On the other hand, when you feel crummy it makes you realize how valuable health is in life. I'm so thankful for my health. When all systems are down, I don't do well with that. Thankfully I think this thing passed rather quickly.

The training plan I'm using for the 1/2 marathon has three levels - for beginner, intermediate and advanced. I'm using the beginners level because I'm a beginner. :D I cut out the first week on the plan as I only have 7 weeks to go before race day. I think it will be just right for me. I can continue to cross train with spinning class and some swimming.

I think I mentioned that just before leaving for London, I gave Chris his bike back. What a sad day that was! Now, I walk around my flat feeling as though a part of me is gone. Chris's bike was good to me. Yes, Chris was glad to see his bike but I think I love it more than he does. I definitely used it much more than he did! He keeps his bike chained outside while I brought her in and gave her lots of love and a place in my livingroom. When guests came over, I moved her to my bedroom. Now that she's gone, I'm feeling a bit of separation anxiety. I can't just take her out for a spin whenever I want. And it's a real shame. I decided to wait until I get back to the States to get a bike of my own. I'm not going to get a bike here in BP right now especially as fundage is also at an all time low. In the meantime, spinning class and perhaps a date with Chris's bike once in awhile will have to do. But I am excited about spinning class! I love to feel the burn.

I'm surprised at how quickly and easily it is to get in and out of routine. While running today, I thought to myself..... I really love this but you give yourself an inch and there goes the proverbial mile. It feels good to be back at it -- even if it's just a lil' somethin' :D

Well, I'm off to meet Nori. Immigration office hours are interesting. They open tonight from 5 pm on and then they're closed tomorrow. So, we decided to go tonight. While we wait it will be good to catch up with my dear friend. Gotta love the visa process.