Running Wild

I am a runner.  Time and again I am asked, "why do you torture yourself like that?".  I get it, I used to see it as torture too.  I suffered many mysterious stomach flus and sore legs just prior to the first call for the the 3200m run in high school track!  I joined track to hang out with my friends, what was all this running about anyway!  I wasn't fast, so by default I was labeled a "distance" runner. There was no fire in my belly then.  At 15 I ran because my friends were in track. Unfortunately they were fast...so I could never keep up with them long enough to chat...and if I did, I was too out of breathe!  I'm glad I ran, for whatever reason I had at the time, but today I can see an evolution in my theory.  Today I run with a purpose and a shear love of it. 

In July of 2011 my friend Cindy posted about this ap she was using on her iPhone called Couch to 5K (c25k). She talked about how great she felt, and what a sense of accomplishment she had earned that day. So I searched it and downloaded it.  I found the below exerpt from a draft I never published last summer.

 I knew eight minutes would be a feat for me.  I'd been back in my running shoes for just 4 weeks and eight minutes straight was three minutes longer than I had gone in one stretch.  I know that sounds lame, but I am amazed at how age can slow you down. 

This glimpse back amazes me.  It motivates me.  It reminds me that we all take baby steps with much of what we do in this life.  One year ago I was fearful.  I doubted myself and my abilities.  I couldn't see in that small frame how much I would accomplish in a year...just a year ago I wasn't wild about running.  But today I am 39 days away from my first half marathon.  I can run 4 miles without walking, and I have completed a 5k and the 7mile Bix.  Last year I couldn't run a mile.  Today, I can and more. 

Now let me make something clear.  I am slow.  Painfully, pathetically slow.  But get this.  I am faster than someone who isn't running at all.  I am faster than I was last year, and I simply don't care about how fast I go, I only care about finishing the race.  I run to finish.

So much of my life is chaos, so much of my life is intermingled in the care of others, tending to the needs of a family, litterally running wild with errands, chores, schoolwork, phone calls, paperwork, meals, play, sports, and life.  Running is therapy.  Not always, but often when I can get out alone, it is the ONLY time I am alone.  Running is prayer time.  Running is peace.  Running is the one accomplishment I can feel or see in a day filled with laundry and dishes and messes.  I run for the achievement of it.  Oh, and running means I am guarenteed a shower (smile).

My friend Jami has MS.  Well, not officially, but she has symptoms associated with MS.  She was training for a half marathon when her symptoms started.  She is my former partner in crime turned spiritual mentor.  She is beautiful and strong. She changed my life by shining the light of Jesus into my world.  When she told me about her diagnosis, my heart was broken for her.  I thought to myself, "I want to run for her", and I decided I would run a half marathon because she couldn't.  Well, silly me.  This lady didn't need me to run for her, she decided she could do it herself.  And she did, she finished those 13.1 miles and she praised Jesus all the way.  She pretty much trumped any excuse I could think of making for why I "couldn't" run.  So, I run.  Each time I am tired and  I want to walk, I think of Jami.  I pray for her, and I keep going.  I run because I can.  You can read more about Jami's inspiring story at www.mymsmymightysavior.blogspot.com

Some days are harder than others.  I don't always want to lace up my shoes, but I never get back from a run and say I wish I hadn't accomplished that task today.  I wish I hadn't said those prayers, burned those calories, or breathed that air.  Sticking to a training program, also makes me valid.  How can I train my children to try their best, to finish a task, to do the hard things....if I don't do them myself.  Often they run with me, and the time with them is amazing.  Sharing a love for fitness, will hopefully stick with them.  The joy they experience from finishing a run, seeing that accomplishment, that is big.  That is life lesson stuff.  I run as an example.

My brother works at a store called Running Wild.  They sell shoes...running shoes.  Duh.  He has run wild his whole life.  Seriously!  But he is also a very talented runner and spent many hours working hard and training.  I stood on the sidelines of many races, and as all the people passed I would think "I should try running again too".  I wish I had stopped thinking about it sooner and actually bought a pair of shoes from my brother and hit the pavement.  This year my parents and kids got to watch four family members run the Bix.  My brother, his girlfriend Sara, me and my oldest son Ty.  We are awesome!  They smoked me.  But like I said, I finished the race and I did it with my son by my side. 

We are all running toward something.  Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.  I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.  Phillipians 3:13-14 Slow but sure, I will get there.  I will finish the race.  With each day I will get stronger, and as I look back on my life I hope I will see the baby steps in my faith, like my running, turn into broader things. 



If you are a Quad Cities area runner, or considering giving running a try check out this great group of women. facebook.com/groups/Qcsolesisters.