Our second 5K!

Lucky number 141!

Saturday marked the completion of our second 5K race. It was at the 41st Annual Oil Town Festival in Smackover, Arkansas, and the 34th running of the 5K as a part.

Of the 380 racers, we came in 358th and 359th in the competition, thanks to timing by FitRightRacing. We had knocked some time off of the Blossom Festival race in Magnolia back in May. We might have done better, but we hadn't walked any to speak of during the week prior to the race due to a blister that Sharon acquired walking the four-mile trail at Millwood the previous weekend.  We both came in with 54:46, an exact tie which we work hard to accomplish. We're in this together, so it's not a competition between the two of us. Our goal is to finish together!

Waiting for the start

It was a nice day for the race with temperatures in the upper 70s/lower 80s. Although Smackover only boasts a population of 2,005, it's a small town with big spirit. Folks turned out all along the route to watch and occasionally cheer us (or someone near us!) on in the race. And periodically some had sprinklers set up strategically along the route to cool down the racers.

Smart tee-shirt and our race tags

The Smackover race differed from Magnolia in that it was billed as a run and there was no separate category for walkers. In Magnolia, the walkers started out two minutes after the runners, which had the advantage of letting the runners have a clear start without having to run through us walkers. On the other hand, we who walked were also free to jog if the urge struck us, without fear of being disqualified. Sharon took advantage of that from time to time, mainly to catch up with me, or so she claimed.

There were several folks from Magnolia in the race, and two from our church placed high in their divisions. We were proud for them!

Only one of these in Arkansas!

Whether we placed high or low, we moved closer to our goal of walking the Camino in 2014. When we first took a practice walk of a 5K back in May, we did it twice in about 65 minutes. In both Magnolia and Smackover we came in under the hour mark, for which we felt we had shown progress. We weren't just completely worn out after finishing this race. And it was a bargain, too--just $10 for the registration and that got us into the race, a tee shirt, a chance at some nifty door prizes (where else can you win a barrel of oil?) and a drink and a candy bar at the end of the race. I felt like I deserved to eat a Snickers bar, considering the number of calories I had burned!

Monday means we are back to training, and we plan to get up early and walk on hour. Let's see if we can carry through on that commitment!

Over four miles--yay!

Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" --Matthew 4:4

Trail head at Lake Millwood for both trails

The Wildlife Lane Nature Trail is located at Lake Millwood State Park and is about a 90-minute drive from our home. Millwood is a fisherman and camper's dream, located less than half an hour northeast of Texarkana.

We picked up our walking stick medallion, got instructions for locating the trail head at the State Park office and headed down that way. The park office is located right off State Highway 32 just a few miles outside of Ashdown.

We started our walk at 9:46 a.m. and it took just over 90 minutes to complete the hike. We were going for distance, not time. We learned a couple of important lessons from Saturday's hike:

• Carry insect repellant when walking in a forest that goes through a swamp and alongside a major fishing lake! The buzz of mosquitos around our ears accompanied us pretty much the entire hike. We decided to purchase some of the pre-treated towelettes to pack in our water bottle lumbar packs.
• Keep first aid supplies with us when we walk! Sharon developed what became a pretty bad blister on her little toe, and some moleskin would have been nice to have. We've since purchased a first aid kit and transferred it to the lumbar pack. Note to self: get the bug repellant!

It's said there are 12 footers here!

 We had packed a lunch of some of our favorite 17 Day Diet foods. But about 11 a.m., nearing the end of the trail, I made a comment to Sharon: "You know, if we hurried, we could be sitting at Ta Molly's in Texarkana by 12 noon if we hurried a bit." Sounded like a plan to her too, so it gave us the incentive to get off the trail.

All in all it was a good hike and we were thrilled to have walked this far, especially since just two months ago we could hardly walk for 15 minutes.  We hope to walk an hour most weekdays and plan more long hikes on the weekends to build up our stamina. Next weekend we're heading over to Smackover for the 41st Annual Oil Town Classic 5k Run and Walk. Woo hoo!

A Godly Meditation
Thomas More, 1478-1535 

Didn't seem like paradise!

Give me grace, good Lord
To count the world as nothing,
To set my mind firmly on you
And not to hang on what people say;
To be content to be alone,
Not to long for worldly company,
Little by little to throw off the world completely
And rid my mind of all its business;
Not to long to hear of any worldly things;
Gladly to be thinking of you,
Pitifully to call for your help,
To depend on your comfort,
Busily to work to love you;
To know my own worthlessness and wretchedness,
To humble and abase myself under your mighty hand,
To lament my past sins,
To suffer adversity patiently, to purge them,
Gladly to bear my purgatory here,
To be joyful for troubles;
To walk the narrow way that leads to life,
To bear the Cross with Christ,
To keep the final hour in mind,
To have always before my eyes my death, which is always at hand,
To make death no stranger to me,
To foresee and consider the everlasting fire of hell,
To pray for pardon before the judge comes;
To keep continually in mind the passion that Christ suffered for me,
For his benefits unceasingly to give him thanks;
To buy back the time that I have wasted before,
To refrain from futile chatter,
To reject idle frivolity,
To cut out unnecessary entertainments,
To count the loss of worldly possessions, friends, liberty and life itself as absolutely nothing, for the winning of Christ;
To consider my worst enemies my best friends, 
For Joseph's brothers could never have done him as much good with their love and favor as they did with their malice and hatred.