But God...

I've realized that in writing a blog where you talk about your life you sound a little full of yourself. I hope you all realize I use my life as a testimony. And I'll be honest, complements are nice, but that's not my goal. My goal is to show the grace of God in my life. Which brings me to my first topic: But God...

That should not be read as a complaint. "But God... why?" It should be read after a problem and before a story of grace. I was planning on writing about this anyway. But then the teaching at church was very similar and got my gears turning. Take Joseph's story in the Bible. He was thrown into a pit by his brothers who then sold him into slavery. Then we fast forward a bit, BUT GOD made him second in command of Egypt because Joseph kept trusting in God's plan.

Another honesty moment: It is hard to keep sight of God's plan when life isn't going your way. But if you can keep focus, God will do His part. Elizabeth was diagnosed with cancer. BUT GOD made her stronger and healthier as a cancer survivor. Why do I make health my focus? Because it's my "But God".

My "But God" has gone from cancer survivor; to needing to get back into shape after treatments; to wanting to be a swimming, biking, and running machine. I ran 30 miles this past weekend in case you missed that on Facebook and Instagram. ;) Anyway, I remember thinking during treatments, "After this I need to focus on my health. But I don't want to turn into one of those health freak survivor's who are all 'FOOD IS FUEL!'" Whoops. Ha! But I want to make something clear: I believe food is the slowest form of poison or the best medicine. BUT I do not live in fear of being sick again. If you are going to eat anyway, why not use it as fuel and not sabotage? Eat for health, eat for performance. Although I do enjoy milkshakes from Cookout and New York style pizza every once in a while. Moderation is key.

Tapers are key, too. And thank God for them. I've built up to my 30 miles and it's time to bring it down. I may throw in added long runs between now and Ragnar. But nothing more than 18. I've also reworked my training schedule for after Ragnar. There's always a rest day, but this new plan has two mornings and two evenings off. My body says, "Yesssss", my addicted mind says, "You're gonna skip FOUR TRAINING OPORTUNITIES?!?". Yeah, we'll see how that goes. Ha.

And switching back to "food is fuel" for a sec, look at this beautiful loaf of sweet potato sandwich bread I made! I used to be terrible at making breads. And considering I winged this recipe I'm quite pleased.

1 cup Sweet potato puree
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar (or honey)
1 banana
1 cup applesauce
4 eggs

Mix wet ingredients together, that includes sugar and the banana. Mix dry ingredients. Then combine the two. Pour into a greased loaf pan. Sprinkle some oats on top if you'd like. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes. Ta-Da!