Running

I started running pretty much daily back in August. My motivation was to get some exercise and stay in shape. But what I've discovered is that running is a very spiritual act for me.

It's hard to explain, really. It's just that I can sense God filling me with strength when I run. Not just strengthening my leg muscles and lung capacity, but strengthening me. There's this sense that I can do all things because he gives me strength (Philippians 4:13) that's manifested in a run. Even when I run at work while watching TV...there's still this spiritual element to it. But it's definitely stronger when I'm out on the open road, surrounded by God's creation.

For a while early on, I tried praying while I run. That didn't really work, because I found my thoughts wandering. But I discovered that even though I don't present requests while I run, it's really a prayerful time. For whatever reason, the to-do list part of my brain shuts down (and that doesn't happen a lot), and I'm just present. And it's when I'm present that I sense God's presence the most.

A week ago I got an iPod so I can listen to music while I run. This has deepened the spiritual aspect even further, the music providing a worshipful background (with the occasional Chipmunks thrown in) as I'm being strengthened by God's presence.

And today, as I rounded a corner with Peanut, I saw a fox standing on the crest of a hill. I slowed to a walk quickly, not wanting him to see Peanut as prey and chase us. And as I slowly walked past the hill, the fox and I just made eye contact, each wondering if we could trust the other. Eventually, he must've decided I wasn't trustworthy and took off. But for those few moments, I was just seeing God through this interaction with a wild creature he'd set in my path.

When people have asked me if I'm a runner, I've usually said no. I don't have much stamina and take regular walking breaks. It doesn't come naturally to me. But boy, have I come to love my morning runs in God's strength and presence.

Peanut: A Big Dog in a Little Body

Peanut is about 11 pounds. And she looks even lighter than that. That's because a lot of her weight is leg muscle from the many adventures we have when she runs and hikes with me.

When we run or hike, people are usually surprised by her ability to do such vigorous exercise despite her small stature. We get comments like, "Can that little dog really get up to the top of the mountain?" or "Will she run like that all the way to the end of the race?"

Today in a 4-mile race, about .75 miles in, we passed a few guys who were running together, and I heard one of the guys say, "Oh no! Guys we gotta beat the cat that barks!"

That lit a fire under me. Because I knew without a doubt that Peanut could easily beat them. But I also knew I slow her down. So I was determined to run faster and try to beat those guys and show them just how tough my little girl is. I don't know if I beat them or not...but I was glad for the extra motivation!

Then there was this other guy who finished 10-20 feet behind me. Pretty close. His wife was waiting at the finish line and he told her, "I was trying to beat that little dog, but I couldn't do it." So I guess I wasn't the only one motivated to do better because of Peanut.

I love how Peanut doesn't let her size limit her. She runs and hikes just like a big dog, and no doubters are going to slow her down. And if you're smart enough to pay attention to her vibrant personality, you'll be inspired to be a better person.

Motivation

Let’s get one thing straight: I do not enjoy running. I know I’ve blogged about it a couple of times, because I do run 1.5 miles every day, but I’m not one of those people who love running. I feel like those people must be lying, because I can’t imagine how anyone could actually enjoy running.

But I have found that when I run in the morning, I feel better for the rest of the day. Once I stop being all hot and sweaty, I actually find myself with a ton more energy than if I’d slept in.

But because I don’t enjoy the process, it’s sometimes hard to get motivation to do it. Sometimes it’s the same way with reading my Bible. Not that I don’t enjoy it, but Jeremiah isn’t always the most riveting book. Sometimes I don’t want to read it anymore.

While at Kidmin, I was able to keep up my routine (not with such consistent times) of running and reading my Bible every morning. And on the mornings where that meant getting up at 5:20 (4:20 my time), it wasn’t always easy to get out of bed. My motivation was begging me to stay in bed. But in the end, I was always glad I’d run and spent time with God. I felt positive and energetic the whole conference, thanks to the physical and spiritual parts of my morning routine.

There are so many things that don’t seem like the fun thing to do. There are so many times when being lazy or doing the selfish things are what we just long to do. But in the end, doing the right thing is always rewarding.

Perseverance

"And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith." - Hebrews 12:1-2

As I mentioned in my blog "Rhythm", I've been running daily lately. But when I say running, I really mean alternating between running and walking. Before my new rhythm, I used to run here and there, pretty sporadically, so I kinda reached a running-to-walking ratio that I got stuck at. Probably about 70% running, 30% walking. I had my designated spots to switch from one to the other.

Now, I'm only going 1.5 miles. So to some of my avid running friends, that might seem like an easy run. But I've always been more of a 30-yard-dash kind of person, without the stamina to run long distances. And 1.5 miles is long to me.

So now that I've been running/walking that same route daily for over a week, I decided to try gradually stepping it up. I've added a cool-down walk around my block (increasing the mileage from 1.25 to 1.5), but I'm working towards running straight through the rest of it. No walking breaks. (Peanut will be thrilled. She hates when I stop to walk.)

I've gotten to probably about 90% running, 10% walking (not counting that final cool down). Two walking breaks, each less than a block. But man, I've been struggling to keep running on those long paths in between breaks.

Yesterday as I pushed myself to keep going, the verse above came into my head. Along with Philippians 3:14, "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

And I thought about whether or not I put the same effort into pressing on toward Christ and running the race with my eyes fixed on him. (And as luck would have it, thinking about these things totally distracted me from the difficulty of the run.) I prayed that God would give me the same determination to fix my eyes on him and press on toward his goal that I have to run 1.25 miles without any walking breaks.