Day 1: Ash Wednesday
March 10th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
The more observant will notice that I’m actually posting this on Thursday. This is because yesterday was such a packed day I didn’t get a chance to post, but there was time to reflect.
I was thinking more about the idea of not conserving my energy and just going flat out as I was running, in part because yesterday I did an 8 K run in which the instruction was to run “fast”. Not Olympic fast, but to run just outside the threshold of comfort, work up a sweat and get that shortness of breath that is a mark of truly working it out. To keep me focused, I had this line from an old prayer that we had hung up in our house in Kenya “rest if you must, but don’t you quit!” Instead of going for a flat out run, I did it in legs – running flat out for about 5-8 minutes, resting for about 20 – 30 seconds, and then picking it up again before my heart rate slowed down too much.
Man! How rewarding! Praise God! Not only did I finish my run unbelievably fast – thank you Jesus! – but at the end of it all, I was FINE! Winded, yes. Covered in sweat, absolutely! Breathing like air was going out of fashion, you know it! But I was fine! It didn’t kill me. The awful feeling only lasted about 15 minutes after the run and then – nothing. My feet didn’t hurt (although I am being more religious about the stretching pre and post-run), my muscles got over it – I was just FINE.
I say this, not to praise myself, but to remind myself that this applies in real life as well. I’ve been concerned about pushing myself too hard because I thought it would result in some kind of internal destruction. But Lord, life is a race, and I need to run each leg flat out, rest for a bit, and then run the next leg flat out. Because ultimately, all I can do is glorify you through the way I live my life. I can only do my best with the here and now and then let the future sort itself out – that’s what You’re there for!
Thank you for the strength to run! Thank you for the inspiration to meditate Lord!
Here’s a tip – the best thing to do with the running, I’m finding, is to leave the iPod at home.
KT, wohoooo!! 
