Training for a half-marathon ended up being a greater commitment than I had first anticipated. Over an 8 week period of time, many factors including health, food intake, cross training, and not to mention the actual hours spent running, all had to be taken into consideration.
However, it all paid off this last weekend in the Mother Road Half Marathon, in Joplin, MO. On race day, I woke up like it was any other morning, drank my cups of coffee, donned by pink running shoes, and as the gun sounded pursued the leisure run of 13.1 miles.
Over the1 hour and 49 minutes, there was something crazy that happened. God showed up. (May we never stop being in awe of God’s presence!)
During those miles on the Route 66, there was no outside distractions, no one to text or call, just me and God.
I began to recognize how much I’ve learned about what it means to follow Christ, to be a follower with endurance, and an acknowledgment of the discipline that comes with this pursuit.
Thoughts from Race Training:
- A Clear Vision is Essential
- 13.1 miles---- the Finish Line
- A vision in following Christ is to see generations and generations of followers from the world be raised up from my life----Finish Line when following Christ
- Delayed Gratification
- Running always feels really good when you stop or reaching the top of a hill to only look back and say, “I just did that” is always worth it.
- In trusting Christ, waiting for God’s perfect timing is always worth it
- Wasting Time is Easy
- Rap Music may seem more motivating or thinking about anything that will remove my thoughts from the pain of running at hand can be so easy to slip into.
- Yet, there is #toomuchatstake to not be disciplined with our time when living for a mission that will outlast our lives.
- Sin must be Avoided at all Cost.
- It’s easy to make exceptions. If i didn’t have time during the day, I was tempted to run at night or shorten my long runs or run fewer stair laps. Yet anything that would take me away from the course at hand only would negatively affect training in the long haul.
- There may seem like much more enticing things than following Christ when it gets hard, but it’s always worth it.
- Do the Hard Things
- Mornings when it’s cold, dark, or I just didn’t feel like running weren’t an excuse.
- We have to be willing to do the hard things for Christ even when emotionally or physically we don’t feel like it. Following Christ isn’t just an emotional connection, it’s a commitment for life.
- It’s a Lifestyle
- This is a personal thing…lol. But I think you can tell people who are runners. There is a difference about the way they move, carry themselves, and care for their health.
- As a Christian, people should be able to tell. If there isn’t a difference between our lives and a non-believers life---there’s a problem.
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Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. ~Hebrews 12:1
