Running the race -- or not.

For those who don't know, I started a running program. Yes, me. I have always hated to run and now, I'm doing it willingly and on purpose. Nothing is chasing me, and no one is testing my ability to remain in the Air Force, at least not today. The program is called Couch to 5K and works with walk/run intervals that change over the course of 9 weeks until you are running 30 minutes at a time.
I begin the 4th week tomorrow. 
Today is a rest day, and I took a nap after church. I woke up from my nap way later than I'd intended and looked at the clock -- 6:58. My groggy brain looked out the window and thought it was 6:58 am! I thought I was late for my Monday morning -- and for Week 4 Day 1! I was freaked! I didn't want to run in the South Texas heat but resigned myself. I figured I'd done it to myself not setting the alarm even on a holiday. Then, when my husband asked if I wanted coffee, I started thinking, "Gee, it's odd for him to get up before me in the morning. Even odder that he hadn't made the morning coffee since he's as addicted as I am." Then it hit me. It's still Sunday evening. I hadn't missed my run and I'm still on track with the program. And now, all is right again in my muddled, foggy-brain, post-nap world -- and I got my coffee!


On another area, spiritual fitness, the pastor challenged the church to start in the book of Matthew in the morning and read a chapter a day through the New Testament. I was pretty dedicated to listening to an audio Bible while I was deployed to Afghanistan in 2008 but have tapered down to reading much less. I think I will use my audio bible to begin my morning workouts. I will be exercising my spirit along with my body. I'll let you know how giving up my up-beat contemporary Christian music during the warm-up period goes with the training. I may have to use it during my cool-down stretch instead but I'm going to try it at the beginning first. I'd appreciate prayer as getting into shape physically is important to me but getting into spiritual shape is more valuable. For me, the two are tied together and I'm on a journey to become faithfully fit. 


I would love some feedback from you on ways you stay fit, both physically and spiritually. Have you found ways to tie the two together? Please share any tips that help you in either area.