A Tribute: Tracy Watts Zehr

Some things I learned this past week from Tracy's passing. Life is fleeting...whether you are in good health or not. God's purpose for your life is a mystery and ultimately is to glorify him...love others...and be that person that He desires for you to be - to see a good work in you. When we left Jasper I held onto Isaiah 43:18-19 “Forget the former things;

    do not dwell on the past.
¹⁹ See, I am doing a new thing!
    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland."

When we left I never looked back...not once. It was all forward thinking even when I was slightly lonely from not knowing people. I looked forward to pursuing God in a new church family...in spending time with Ian...then to working full-time...then to having a new baby boy....staying healthy.  Not once did I look back - I missed people but I knew not to look back.  And then Alex's post about prayer came up and what was going on. I prayed and prayed and prayed. More than I have done in quite a long time especially about just one thing.  Prayed and prayed for a miracle for healing or for His will.
But when she passed...I-looked-back. 

And what I found, was loss...pain...missing a family that I knew we had and people that we had shared our lives with through some very trying times. Those people who also celebrated our new achievements and even pushed themselves to achieve as well or to delve deeper into their lives. I found pictures in my mind springing up of various memories and get-togethers. I found laughter at the simplest things, running to friends' houses for fun. I found heartache at remembering how Ian still wants to be in Jasper at times. But I did find healing too.

Healing with the knowledge and truth that although we are far away in distance, this family is still part of the big Kingdom and that we share the most important thing on earth: Christ. It's a family that is not distinctive because of blood or even personalities. We are family because we shared life and we share Christ and we share burdens. I have new family here and haven't had the opportunity to really share life with them quite yet. It's just the beginning. It's a vulnerable thing to do and it's scary but it's so rewarding to open back up.  So although I am going to miss sharing life with those still in Jasper -- hopefully they will come visit us in our new life here in Troy, Ohio.  I found that when we did visit Jasper a week or so before Tracy's passing...I found it hard to do. 

It's like you never leave, yet everything and everyone has changed in some way. I'm not the same person here as I was in Jasper, really I am not. I am more responsible here and have found my grounding here as a mother and a professional.  In Jasper, I was insecure as a mother and seemed to long for more independence but here there are opportunities galore but I have no desire to pursue them b/c I'd rather be a mom. My focus is not on antiques or flea market finds (probably b/c we're not in a house yet) and I love simplifying the space around me.  I am in a different role at the hospital and with my coworkers. We are from ALL different walks of life.  I didn't expect to feel the yearning for Jasper that I did nor the regret for leaving that occurred when Tracy passed but now that I have, it makes those relationships I made there...stronger, deeper and richer. I forgot about that in my "focus forward". 

I will remember fireworks at the Zehrs, swimming there, watching Ian and Jazlyn play around at a wedding reception, swimming with Alex in the mornings while training, working with Tracy's mom Pat and literally sharing an office with her talking about everything from Melanie's (Tracy's older sister's) growth out of grief to Tammy's (Tracy's younger sister) nursing education to Jazlyn's silly faces to my own perspective on people's lives and laughing A LOT!  I'll remember Tracy's laugh and conversations with her when I was going through post-partum depression with Ian - her encouragement and her small group which I loved! She's laugh at me too which was nice. We all impact one another - I just hope mine is a good impact that somehow outweighs the selfishness that I know I have that stunts my spiritual growth. We should all pray that God uses us in His ways because ultimately that is what matters anyway and Tracy was another one of His daughters who was able to experience that.

Nutritional Information - Training

Written on Go! St. Louis website - I need to concentrate on this - ENJOY!
Nutrition is a very important part of training. Proper food and fluids not only provide energy for an athlete to achieve his/her daily fitness goals, but also helps in muscle recovery after your workout. Clint Verran, a licensed physical therapist – specializing in running-related injuries; a personal running coach; and one of America’s premier runners – is a big believer in the power of nutrition. Here, he provides some nutrition tips for adults participating in the GO! St. Louis Family Fitness Weekend.

Daily Nutrition : The goal of your daily nutrition should be to adequately fuel your exercise, promote recovery, and avoid fat storage. Eat often to help control portion size. Multiple, smaller meals are best rather than large meals which trigger fat storage.Eat a small snack right before you run and fuel up on some carbohydrates immediately after running. Plan snacks between meals. Exercise and a steady caloric intake during the day keep your metabolism hot. Plan your eating around your activity. Monitor carbs. Eat carbs earlier in the day to fuel your exercise and daily activities. Limit mega doses of carbs in the evenings, unless you’re racing the next morning!

Race Week: Traditional carbo-loading techniques call for a 3-4 day "depletion" phase, where runners completely avoid any and all carbohydrates. The theory is that by starving yourself of carbohydrates, you make your muscles carbohydrate receptors hyper-sensitive to carbs. Then, when you reintroduce carbs, you load your muscles with more than they could normally absorb.

The problem with this method is that you expose yourself to a high risk of illness. Your immune system runs on carbs. The last thing you want is to get sick the week before your big race. INSTEAD, try a very subtle reduction in carb intake for a few days, early in the week. A small reduction should be fine because you are already tapering your training at this point. Then, the last three days before the race, get in as many high-quality carbs as you can.

During the Week: The marathon is the only distance where calories are required during the race. 10Ks and half marathons can easily be run on the body’s own glycogen stores. During the marathon, the best way to take in calories is to drink them. DO NOT pass up a sports-drink station. Sports drinks solve two problems: hydration and calories. Plain water is better than nothing, but you are missing a great opportunity to fuel your muscles. Carbo-gels or Energy Gels can satisfy thisn need if sports drinks are infrequent. You need to practice taking these gels during training. Take the gel with a couple big gulps of water. If you choose the gel route, try taking three. One gel at 6 miles, 12, and 18. Getting them in on the early side will be more beneficial than waiting until the end of the race. Look for caffeinated gels for later in the race. The caffeine will help keep you mentally focused when you really need it.

Post-Run Recovery: The most important thing to remember when it comes to recovery nutrition is TIMING. Immediately after exercise, your muscles crave carbohydrates. If you can consume carbs within 45 minutes or so after a cardiovascular workout, your body will do a much better job of storing the carbohydrates as muscle glycogen as opposed to turning it into fat. This muscle glycogen will come in very handy for your next run! TIP: Try to take in AT LEAST 500 calories of carbohydrates (grains, cereal, fruits, energy bars) within 30 minutes following a run. The longer you wait, the more of this wonderful effect is lost. Change into some dry clothes, EAT, then get that shower!

Important Habits
The most important habits you can have to live a long and healthy life are:
yes 1.Exercise and move your body every day.
yes 2.Always use your seat belts.
oops 3.Drink water - your body is 70% water.
sort of 4.Eat a good breakfast every day.
sort of 5.Eat a lot of fruits and vegetables.
sort of 6.Limit fat, salt, caffeine, and sugar in your food.
try to 7.Sleep 7 to 8 hours every night.
yes 8.Spend time with friends and laugh a lot!

A Procrastinator

I am a procrastinator -- some weeks are better than others but the message I keep hearing is less is more and that by focusing more on a few things I will end up accomplishing many things...

9 Simple Solutions for Procrastinatorsby Christine Kane
Irony: As I started to write this article, I thought, "I'll just go play one Sudoku game first." I caught myself in the act and marched to my laptop.

People who say that procrastination is about laziness are probably the same people who think that anorexia is about not eating enough. Procrastination isn't about laziness. It's about fear. It's about perfectionism. It's about overwhelm. We all experience it, and there are some tricks to help you get moving again.

Here are 9 ways to break the procrastination habit:
1 - When you get an idea, do some little thing to begin.When I read Stephen King's book On Writing, I noticed something. I noticed that when Stephen King gets an idea, he writes it. Immediately and imperfectly.

Most people get an idea. Then they sit there. They wonder if it's a good idea. Then, they wonder if it's a good idea some more. Got an idea? Begin it now!

2 - All hail small chunks of time!
Lots of us complain about having no time. My guess is that we all have lots of time. It just doesn't happen to be all at once.

Are you waiting for many hours of spare time to begin your idea, your project, or your taxes? Stop waiting! Learn to use the spare half hour that comes up here and there. (I gave myself 45 minutes to write this article just to take my own advice.)

3 - Agree to do it badly.
Set a goal to do it badly. Set a goal to show up. Let go of doing it ALL, or doing it WELL. Some of my coaching clients' biggest victories have a lot more to do with getting over perfectionism and fear, than they do about getting it all done perfectly.

4 - Commit aloud.
Call a friend and say something like this: "I'm going to spend the next half hour working on my Law School Essay." Then go do it. Call the friend after the half hour and make her congratulate you. Repeat daily.

5 - Define quantities.
Nebulous goals make for nebulous results. "I'm gonna get my office organized" is a lot like saying, "We oughtta do something about Global Warming." Most procrastinators have a hard time defining quantities. We think everything needs to be done NOW.When are you going to do it? For how long? Which part of your office? The file cabinet? Or your desk?

Define the goal and acknowledge its completion.

6 - Install this System Upgrade into your Mental Hard Drive: Less is More. Have fewer goals. Have no more than three priorities for a week.
Why?
Because you're not lazy. You're just trying to do too much.
Find out what it feels like to accomplish one thing instead of not quite getting to everything. Wow - what a difference this makes!

7 - Do it first.
My first coach made me write songs first thing in the morning. He told me to schedule the 2-hour chunk as my first activity upon waking.
Why?
"Because you're telling the universe that this is your priority. And then the universe lines up everything to align with your priority." [For a Christian this might be having your quiet time with God.]
Action grounds your priorities. It makes them real. It also makes your day easier because you're not wasting energy thinking about this thing you're supposed to be doing.

8 - Avoid nose-bleed activities.
Email, voicemail, web stats - any activity that bleeds itself into your whole day becomes a non-activity. It becomes a nose-bleed.
When you do it all the time, you never complete it. You just let it slowly drain the very life force from you. Define times for these activities. Then, turn off your email, your cell phone, your web stats, until that time comes.

9 - Don't ask how you "feel" about doing the activity. Have you ever committed to getting fit? And then when the alarm goes off, you lie in bed thinking, "Do I really feel like going to the gym?" (Like you even have to ask!)
Change this pattern. Make your decision the night before. Commit to getting up and going right to the gym, the computer, the blank canvas. Don't have coffee and sigh and think, "I'll probably feel more like it at lunch time." You won't! If it's a priority, don't waste time asking yourself how you feel about doing it. Feelings are an easy out.
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So in this case, what do I desire to prioritize:
* fitness & health
* writing or crafting (at some point)
* preparation for LMFT exam {licensure exam}

Nugget for 2010

Surround yourself with people who inspire you.

You know how important it is to cultivate a mindset of promise and can-do spirit -- and how attractive that is to new opportunities. After all, what we think and say has everything to do with what turns up and how things turn out.

A key action step is to actively cultivate this mindset by choosing the circle of people around you. You'll be encouraged and inspired by those who have confidence in the future, and have made leaps of faith themselves. This is especially true for those who follow God and pursue Him.

(This is why I do the work I do...and have the intimate friends I have. It's so I can be connected to people who are investing themselves in the future.)

So seek out those who have faith in the future ... those who believe in an expansive and confident view. And figure out how you can be in their company. Just a dose, here and there, can nourish you.

Nuggets for 2010

* Look at things from many different perspectives; however, always choose one that is positive.
* Plan fun things in the future.
* Expect success.
* Take time to prepare yourself each and every day.
* Appreciate the beauty around you.
* Experience new places and new things.
* Give to people in need.
* Never let fear stop you.
* Never compare; appreciate each in its own way.
* Spend time sharing with friends and family.
And also, on a personal note...if all else fails, go shopping.