tHe pLaNk

Well, we are 25 days into the 30-day Ab Challenge.  And when I say, "we" I do mean Jay and I.  Our partners have jumped ship.  Madolyn fell and hurt her wrist (she really did) and seems to have used that injury over a week ago to just stop altogether.  Lane missed a few days and feels like he can't just pick up where he left off, for some reason.

Jay and I are in it to win it.  We are going to finish this thing.  No. Matter. What.  There have been a couple times when I thought the no-matter-what could lead me to the emergency room with some pulled or strained or torn or shredded abdominal/groin muscles, but wouldn't you know, I'm still plugging along.

The dreaded plank is certainly not easy, but it really hasn't been quite as bad as I had envisioned.  Every day the time is increased by about five seconds.  It is totally blowing my mind that I am up to a 90-second plank. That is one minute and thirty seconds.  Of Sarah holding herself up.  Really.

I've found a few tricks along the way to get me through it...I set my timer and try very hard not to look at it. I'm always super disappointed when it's not nearly as far along as I feel like it ought to be.  I also have been quoting scriptures for strength.  You know that old wives tale scripture text telling us to use scripture in times of need?  Hey, it actually works!  That Bible is full of lots of good stuff.

After a few rough nights of doing the plank at the end of my other exercises, it dawned on me that I should do it completely separate and not after my muscles are already angry and upset with me.  The other night Jay and I were doing the plank alongside one another.  Lane was coaching from the couch.  (He is sooo good at that).  I put my head down and started in reciting my scripture, the Lord's Prayer, 23rd Psalm and anything else that I could think of.  Near the end (I think we were at 55 seconds then) I was struggling a bit and spewed out "surely goodness and mercy and all of that other stuff..."

Well, that got Jay and Lane giggling.  Trouble was, there was still a good twenty seconds left.  I tried to get back into my happy place and started in on the 23rd Psalm.  And once again I found myself at the I-can't-hold-this-for-another-second moment.  As I was rattling off that scripture, I sputtered, "and all that crap."
Now, this was definitely not one of my brighter moments.  (And Lord, I do apologize for throwing my word of desperation into your Word.)  But the real kicker is my sweet son will not let it go.

Of all the things he could've taken note of - like the fact that I was actually holding this unending plank, or that I was trying to utilize scripture and the power of the Lord for strength - he has tucked away my not-so-nice-paraphrasing of scripture for future reference.  And that night after we said our prayers and I tucked him into bed, when I started to walk away, he says, "Hey mom."  I said, "What?"  Giggling with that silly grin and cackle, he blurts out, "AND ALL THAT CRAP!"

I'm pretty sure I will never live this down.

Maybe this ab challenge wasn't such a great idea.