Run & Enjoy

One of my newest Brooks running shoes

My stomach churned and burned.  I could feel my breathing become shallower and faster.  The whistle blew and off I lurched.  I sprinted to each line on the gym floor and back to the beginning point all the while complaining internally.  I flopped to the floor at the end of the circuit, gasping for air and despising that part of practice…

“Yes, you can run the hurdles,” our track coach replied to my dream request.  She continued, “as long as you also run the mile relay.”  My heart sunk, but I agreed.  I would run a race I hated for the sake of one I loved…

At some point during my middle school or high school years, running lost its fun factor for me, as I began to play competitive sports.  For the following 20 years it remained an unappealing activity which I despised and resisted at every opportunity.  After the birth of our third child, I awakened to a desire to try running as a hobby, a practice of my life as long as my body would cooperate.  My main goal was to fall in love with running so that I would continue to run.

Another goal was to develop the character qualities I saw in runners that I knew fairly well, my dear husband being one of those.  I longed for their mental toughness and endurance most of all.  I knew that these qualities would translate to every area of my life.  I am a work in progress.

There are lots of great resources out there for helping someone to become a runner.  I explored a number of them and learned many things in the process.  My favorite “coach” is Jeff Galloway, although we’ve never met or had any personal interaction.  His run/walk method gently launched me into running and has sustained me since I started this life-giving practice of mine. 

I am not a competitive runner.  I am really more of a jogger.   My favorite benefits of running are being outside and having another block of time alone with God while my body is doing something it was created to do.  I also benefit from the emotional uplift, mental rejuvenation and physical energy recharge of running.  .  Running helps me to control me and to love others, thus improving our home education experience for all of us.

I have plans and dreams in regard to running that will require more “white space” in my life in order to achieve.  For now I am content to run and to enjoy

What activities uplift, rejuvenate and/or energize you?

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