Challenges in the New Year

For me, every week is like a new year. I'm always thinking about how to improve myself and my home. It's honestly a bit of an obsession. Lately, I've been reading lots of "How to Get Organized" books. I take them with me to read while waiting for appointments and joke about how I keep reading these books, but I am still not organized. One piece of advice in the latest book was to stick with a project until its completion. As I look at my very-close-to-clean desk, I wonder why I quit before I finished. In five minutes, the job that has been looming for the past month could finally be crossed off the to-do list. Two more piles, and done, Instead, I have been reading blogs about New Year's challenges, and now I'm writing my own post.

Two challenges are on my radar: The Frual Fresh Start Challenge at SixFiguresUnder.com and the Clean Cuisine 8-Week Challenge. Financial and physical fitness are both very important to me.

All of the challenges have one theme in common, goal setting. I'm very good at dreaming up how I'd like things to look or feel or be. However, I am not quite as good at setting attainable goals with benchmarks to keep me on target for success.

I wrote some goals in a notebook today. The notebook has a page in it with my "five-year goals" from 2009. My goals were lofty and unattained--but inspiring all the same. This time, I'm starting with a six-month goal in response to Stephanie's suggestion for Day 1.  In terms of the financial goals, one is to save for a trip in June to visit my grandma. Another is to pay off a student loan this year. My fitness and health goals are to exercise a minimum of four times per week with a specific focus on strength training and flexibility to alleviate knee pain. Once I've met that goal, I can begin training for a spring or fall half marathon (a distance I claimed to be done running, but I think I need to do just one more!).

All of my current goals are realistic, attainable, and measurable, essential characteristics of worthwhile goals.

I need to start supper in about 10 minutes. That means I have plenty of time to finish cleaning my desk.

What are your goals for the New Year? I'd love to hear from you!

Rosary Runner

“Running for Their Lives” (Columbia Magazine, December 2012), chronicles the founding and purpose of LIFE Runners, the largest international running group dedicated to Pro-Life causes.  The founders of the group are both members of the Knights of Columbus and Lt. Colonels in the United States Air Force. They began praying together as they were training for “Pikes Peak Ascent—dubbed ‘America’s Ultimate Challenge’—in 2006.” Out of that experience grew a daily devotional email that evolved into the LIFE Runners group which now has members across the United States and internationally.

I have enjoyed running since I was in college, but have begun more seriously training for races over the past four years.  My first official race was a local 5K trail race in a weekly summer series.  I wanted to quit for the last half-mile, but my best friend ran the race with me and encouraged me to repeat, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”  I finished in last place, but I finished.  That moment transformed me.  My runs became opportunities for intercessory prayer. 

Since that first race, I have completed many shorter races as well as three half marathons (13.1 miles) and one 25K (15.5 miles) half-ultra trail race. Prayer has become a central focus for my training runs. In May of 2011, I was training for the Memorial Day Half Marathon in the Berkshires.  I had begun praying the rosary during my long training runs, and I regularly asked friends for intentions I could offer on the road.  One dear friend was 8 months pregnant and having complications requiring bed rest.  Our mutual friend called to tell me to pray for her, but I didn’t realize then that her situation was critical. She had been to the doctor on Friday of Mother’s Day weekend, and was expecting to go for her regular follow up the following Wednesday.

On Sunday, the doctor called to tell her she had been thinking of my friend all day and had decided to look more deeply at her history and charts. She was uncomfortable with waiting until Wednesday for the follow-up and wanted her to come to the hospital that day. She ultimately had a scheduled emergency C-section.  Her tiny baby arrived several weeks early and had Down syndrome.  Because my friend is unfalteringly Pro-Life, she had declined all prenatal testing that would have indicated any genetic concerns. She did not know the baby had Down syndrome until she was born.  The decision to go to the hospital and not wait until the Wednesday doctor’s appointment saved both of their lives. A few weeks later when I saw Baby Brigid for the first time, she was so tiny that she fit in a doll’s cradle.  Her perfect porcelain skin looked like a doll’s!  I just kept looking at this beautiful baby with total love and awe in God’s creation.  Later, my friend told me that my prayers helped save their lives that day.  I sobbed.  I know God had taken care of her and her tiny baby, but the challenges had just begun.  As with many babies with Down Syndrome, Baby Brigid would need open heart surgery to repair holes in her heart.

The following autumn, when I was training for the 25K, I began consistently praying a full rosary with all four mysteries on my long weekend runs.  Even though I’d sometimes lose count and say a 15-Hail Mary “decade”, the meditation on the life of Christ and my focus on the needs of those whose prayer intentions I carried made the runs more purposeful, if not easier.  I traveled out of state for the race, and Baby Brigid, now 4 months old, would be having her surgery in Boston while I was gone.  I offered the 3½ grueling hours of that race for Baby Brigid, the family, the surgeons, and all who would care for her during her recovery.  The race was a very technical trail race with lots of rocks, roots, and climbing.  I was not well-prepared for trails as I generally train and race on paved roads.  When I was a little more than half-way through the course, praying the sorrowful mysteries, my foot got caught under a root, and I tripped and fell hard.  I lay face down in the dirt for a long moment while other runners skirted around me. I pushed myself up and checked for blood and broken bones. My big toe throbbed and I had scraped hands and knees, but I was able to continue.  I thought of Christ falling three times on the Road to Calvary.  I said, “Lord, please take my fall, my pain, and keep Baby Brigid safe.  Please let me suffer so she can heal faster.”

If I didn’t have Baby Brigid to run for, I may have been tempted to quit and call my husband to come pick me up at the next water stop.  Carrying the prayer intention gave strength and purpose to my run.  I finished with no other falls, though I had to walk and hike a lot more than I had anticipated. The 25K was by no means my fastest race, but it was definitely my most purposeful and important.  When I got home, I found out that Baby Brigid’s was a success.  My friend said, “I knew you were praying for us in Boston. Looking around the room at the other parents waiting for kids in surgery, we were the only calm ones in the room. I was even surprised myself at how much I was able to trust God to guide the surgeon's hands. The surgery was perfect—it couldn't have been better even though the hole was larger than they thought and there were 3 not 2. They even sent us home a day earlier than [what they] originally said was minimum because she was doing so great. The whole thing was a tremendously difficult experience and I know I would have been a puddle if it hadn't have been for you and all my prayer warriors.”

After those two experiences, I have continued to ask for prayer intentions and to pray the rosary on my solitary runs.  The LIFE Runners article helped me recognize a bigger opportunity.  My prayers had been offered to help one precious baby.  Perhaps uniting my prayers with those of a running team could help save many babies!  I am working with two friends to establish the first Massachusetts chapter of Life Runners. We need 5 runners and a chaplain to be “official,” but in the meantime the three of us have been training since April for the Surftown Half Marathon in Rhode Island on September 15, the traditional feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.  We will race in our LIFE Runners t-shirts which say “Remember the Unborn” and include the reference to Jeremiah 1:5.  The scripture reads “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.” On September 15, we will run for Pro-Life, witnessing to the Truth that all human life is sacred.

In addition to uniting in prayer, LIFE Runners strive to raise money for Pro-Life causes.  The suggested goal is $262 per year which represents the 26.2 miles of a marathon.  Personally, I have trained for about 260 miles so far this year, so that goal would be approximately $1 per training mile! My personal goal is $524 ($40 per mile for my race on September 15)--$262 each for one local and one national charity. 

I have selected the Springfield Pregnancy Care Center as the local beneficiary of my fundraising efforts.  The SPCC has been helping women and children in the Springfield area since 1985.  Their services include the following: free pregnancy testing; confidential counseling; abstinence and STD education; referrals to medical, community and government agencies; free maternity clothes, baby clothes and baby equipment; ongoing personal support; adoption information; prenatal and postnatal instruction; and post abortion support.  The Massachusetts Citizens for Life chose SPCC to receive their 2013 Pro-Life Group of the Year Award. 

In addition to the local charity I'm supporting, LIFE Runners fund raise for one of three national organizations the group selects each year. The national beneficiary I've chosen of the three is the Vitae Foundation which promotes the message of life through the media. By promoting hope and the value of life in the media, we can help change hearts and save lives! You may make a donation to my Vitae Foundation Fundraiser, by clicking here: "Sharing the message of LIFE!"

Will you help me meet my goal of $262 for each charity by October 6?

Please consider a tax-deductible donation to support my efforts to help the Springfield Pregnancy Care Center or the Vitae Foundation to continue offering services to women facing unplanned pregnancies.  Your gift will help save a baby. Thank you for your support!

Natural "Spark" to Treat ADD and Other Conditions

Last night I finished reading Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by John J. Ratey, M.D (2008).  My family physician recommended the book at my annual checkup last month.  I told my doctor of my various discomforts and moodiness—I’m pretty healthy, but hadn’t been feeling 100%.  He didn’t offer pills or suggest a battery of tests.  He simply asked, “Do you exercise regularly?” I hung my head a bit and answered, “Well, I did.”  Notably, my checkup was about a month or so after I ran a half-marathon with my daughter, then abruptly stopped running or exercising.  I was full of excuses—It’s too dark when I want to run…My running shoes don’t feel right…I have too many papers to grade.  Along with the excuses came distractedness, crankiness, and an achy body.  In spite of my overall commitment to healthy living “through diet and exercise,” I didn’t readily recognize that the weeks of sedentary behavior made me feel terrible!

I tend to get the “season-change blues” in late October-early November every year.  The darkness overwhelms me.  The garden is put to bed, so I am less likely to go outdoors.  School is in full swing, and I have essays to grade. Consequently, late fall becomes my season to sit.  I blamed seasonal affective disorder for my woes, but opted to wait for the spring thaw rather than to be pro-active.

My doctor was very enthusiastic about Spark. He described how 1990-1999 was the Decade of the Brain and that research completed in that decade helped doctors to understand the brain and how to treat conditions related to brain function (like depression, A.D.D., Parkinson’s, and Alzheimers).  Ratey’s book takes that foundation and incorporates further research related to the connection of exercise to improvements in behavior, intelligence, mood, recall, and hormonal changes in women. The subtitle, Supercharge Your Mental Circuits to Beat Stress, Sharpen Your Thinking, Lift Your Mood, Boost Your Memory, and Much More, describes the book in a nutshell. 

Many of the readers of my blog seem to find Living the Sweet Catholic Life when searching “Maybe I Have A.D.D.” The chapter of Spark called “Attention Deficit: Running from Distraction” especially attracted my attention as I scanned the Contents. I long for order and schedules (which is common amongst those with A.D.H.D.) but I simultaneously resist such “rigid restrictions.”  My husband is regimented. He has trained for marathons and ultra-marathons while working full time and completing his MBA.  When he was in school, he scheduled his study times and wouldn’t let anything trivial disrupt his routine.  I wonder just how much running has helped his ability to focus and learn—he finished the MBA with a 4.0 GPA!

Though I admire my husband’s routines and dedication, I cannot seem to implement similar schedules for myself. We joke that I’m a free spirit (translate: bird attracted to shiny objects). When I grade papers, I’m lucky to make it through two essays before I search for something online—usually related to the paper, but sometimes not. I desire the results that can be achieved from schedules, but I can’t seem to make myself accountable. I’ve started three novels, two of which I desperately want to complete, but they sit in my Novel folder on the computer with just 20 pages each.  I know what needs to be done, and mostly I get the important stuff done on time.  However, I believe I’m capable of more.  Regular exercise just might be the answer I’m seeking.

When my daughter and I trained for the half-marathon, I made sure we kept to a running schedule.  The routine was good for both of us.  After the race, life was busy and we didn’t seem to have time to run.  In the weeks prior to my regularly scheduled physical everything seemed to change. My body hurt.  My PMS was worse than ever.  I cried for no reason.  When I described the symptoms to the doctor and he recommended exercise as the remedy, I took it seriously.  That evening, I made it back to my Irish dance class for the first time in over a month.  I told my family, “I have to go to dance tonight—doctor’s orders!”  I danced for two hours, and it felt so good to be back!  I made it for four consecutive weeks before the holiday break, and my blues seem to have melted away.  I have started running again, but not as regularly as before the race.  Just those two or three days of exercise each week have already improved my health. 

So, exercise is good medicine for me, but why did I review the book for my blog?  In part, because it’s exciting information! The phrase “something for everyone” comes to mind.  Do you have kids?  They will do better in school if they exercise daily, especially before they study. They will be healthier overall and have better behavior. Are you or someone you know and love reaching the golden years?  Regular exercise can tremendously improve the quality of life for seniors, helping their minds stay sharp and reducing the need for a cabinet full of prescription drugs.  Are you a woman?  Exercise helps women who are pregnant have healthier babies and reduces PMS and Menopausal discomforts.  ADHD?  Anxiety? Depression? Addiction?  All of these health problems can be treated safely and effectively with regular exercise.  And the side effects are a healthier brain and body, with reduced risks for heart disease and diabetes. 

Not convinced that exercise will make a difference for you?  Consider the following studies described in Spark.  First, the Naperville District 203 school students. The 19,000 students are some of the fittest and smartest students in the nation.  Exercise is central to the district’s success.  Next, a new mom experienced severe post-partum depression.  After meeting with Dr. Ratey, she and her husband went directly to purchase an elliptical machine during a Friday afternoon rainstorm.  Her husband wanted so much for her to feel better that he assembled the machine immediately.  She felt the physical burn from the workout and knew she was doing something good for her body.  He first noticed that she was finally sleeping soundly, which quickly alleviated the exhaustion and improved her mood.  Finally, and most profoundly, was a nun who had exercised her mind (along with the other sisters in her order) through “vocabulary quizzes, mental puzzles, and debates about public issues” (243).  Sister Bernadette died at age 85 of a heart attack.  Though she was mentally sharp until her death, a postmortem examination of her brain (which she had donated “to science as part of an ongoing study…by epidemiologist David Snowdon) indicated massive damage from Alzheimer’s disease.  The use it or lose it principal applies here.  Though the damage will still occur for those afflicted with Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, physical and mental exercise, and especially social interaction, will keep us healthier than any pill created by modern science. 

God has given us the tools to care for our bodies and brains—exercise and interaction with people.  Our modern culture fosters a sedentary lifestyle and too much screen time.  I am inspired by Dr. Ratey’s book, and I hope to share the message that physical fitness is about more than “looking good” or “being thin.” Physical fitness strengthens our minds and bodies—improving our quality of life.

Note: Before beginning any exercise program always consult a physician.  Likewise, do not stop medications unless advised to do so by your doctor.