So this week was interesting. We planned to run Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Tuesday's 3 miles was incredible! It felt wonderful to complete those 3 miles we had been shooting for since January. Thursday hurt quite a bit. It was very hot and just a rough day all around. Friday came along and we had ROTC day for school. Bethany and I both injured ourselves and couldn't pull it together to complete our run. We thought it would be better to let ourselves heal a little instead of hurting more. We waited until Monday to complete the last run of the program.
As I sit on my couch after that last run of the Couch-to-5K training program, I am incredibly humbled. I have said time and time again that I didn't believe for once second that I would be able to accomplish this, but it happened. I would be lying if I said that I, alone, had the strength to do it. It may sound silly, but I give every ounce of gratitude to God. Without His provision I would have failed miserably. Some would argue that God wasn't interested in helping me run 3 miles, and that He had better things to do. I beg to differ. Running has taught me a lot about myself and also given me some great spiritual analogy reminders. I believe that God uses every situation, and every obstacle, to teach us something more about Himself.
Sitting here now I think of Paul saying, "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win." in 1 Corinthians 9:24. I don't think it is by accident that Paul equates our spiritual journeys to a race. Running is hard not only physically, but mentally. There are days that it has been incredibly easy and I felt as if i could run a marathon and other days where every step hurt for more than a mile. Isn't that what life is like? The craziest thing is, I would take those hard days way before I took the easy ones. There is something fulfilling about persevering through pain. There is something defining about scars.
These nine weeks have been a roller coaster. I am finishing my last semester of college, starting a marriage, and learning how to transition into a different stage of life. God has been, and will continue to be, faithful through it all. I hope that I can keep my eyes, and heart, open to learn what He is teaching. I am humbled that He gives me eyes to see...and legs to run.
See...even in The Bible, racing was important. :) You're going to do so great in your race. You now know that you can run the distance. For the true runner, racing is never really about winning, or the distance, or doing well. Racing is about celebrating your health and your ability to move...in the same direction as others like you.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on making it to the end of your program. I knew you could do it even if you didn't think so in the beginning. Your race is soon, and I can't wait to hear how it goes and what you think about it.