Running

Running — No Comments
19
Feb 11

I Can Run Further Than I Thought

It’s a lovely, partly cloudy day here in Clovis, so I decided to get outside for a bit.

There’s this burm that stands over the road near our home and overlooks a flood plain and an orange grove.  I’ve always wanted to run along it, so I climbed the slope, hopped the Water District fence–”No Trespassing”?–and took off for what I expected to be an easy 2 mile jog.  Because there’s got to be another gate on the other side, right?

Wrong.  I ran about 2.5 miles and found myself fenced in, surrounded by barbed wire.  I’ve never really enjoyed jumping barbed wire fences, so I turned around and ran all the way back to the gate– a total of 5.75 miles.

Now,  I’m not a great runner, so this is in no way a bragging post.  I’m a actually fairly below-average jogger (I’d like to thank the GB3 treadmills for my uncannily constant 6.0 mph pace).   The point is I had no idea I could run over 5 miles (I don’t think I’ve done anything over 3 since high school) and wouldn’t have attempted it had I not found myself with no other option.

There are times in life where we feel blocked in, with no option to move forward.  Maybe those are the times that we discover what we’re capable of more than we thought.

Side note: If I’m unable to stand to lead worship tomorrow morning, you know why.

Running — No Comments
17
Apr 10

It’s Been Too Long…

… since I’ve felt that burn in my lungs.

Running — No Comments
23
Aug 08

Keeping In Shape

If you’ve read A Case Of The Mundys for any amount of time, you’ll know that every once in awhile I start talking about excercise and stuff like that.  Truth is, I’ve never been very athletic.  Asthma, lack of competitive agression, and sorry hand-eye coordination pretty much destined me to band and choir in my youth.

I do however, enjoy not being fat and seeing as I like to eat good food (and ice cream) and I’m no longer 20, so… that means I’ve got to do something about it.  Since I sit at a desk all day and I can’t bring myself to actually pay for a gym membership, here’s what I’m doing:

  • 100 Push Ups.  That’s right.  The century-mark in push ups.  In one set.  It’s going to be rad.
  • A Half Marathon. I ran cross country for 1 year in high school.  It was sort of a random sort of thing (“hey, we need one more freshman… can you run?”) and I never got to serious about it, but I did enjoy it.  Since then, it’s always been a desire of mine to do some “competitive” running.  I say “competitive” because I don’t really plan on being much of a competitor come November 9th, but I would like to run 13.1 miles and live to tell about it (eventually I’d like to do a full marathon and maybe even a triathlon).  Anyway, I’m using the beginner’s training schedule from RunnersWorld.com and I might be joined by a few friendly Twitter followers.

What do you do to keep the Ben & Jerry’s off your butt?

Running — No Comments
9
Aug 07

Run across america…

That’s right… I’ve decided to run across continental America.

Well, not really.  But my friend, Kelly, recently blogged about this cool website that allows you to track your miles as you virtually traverse the great nation that is America.  The site does a bunch of other cool stuff, like allowing you to set goals for each week’s mileage and select running partners so you can compete and compare stats.  The best part, however is that they include pictures for every part of your route, so I get to see all the crazy rural towns I’ll run through.  Here’s where I am today (5 miles into my 4063 mile journey):

5miles.jpg

I just realized that my run might be a little easier than a real run across America.  Fresno doesn’t have any Rocky Mountains…

Bible Study / Running — 2 Comments
24
Apr 07

"I press on.."

Today, I found this article from RunnersWorld.com that describes a homeless outreach program.

The program is pretty rad… It uses marathon training to teach recovering addicts self discipline and to develop healthy habits that can change their lives.

I’m not much of a runner, but I enjoy getting out for a few miles in the crisp morning air. It’s thrilling and addicting and some of my best time to think and pray occurs during these jogs. One passage of scripture that almost always comes to mind while running is Paul’s words to the Philippian believers:


Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Phillipians 3:12-14)

I love the imagery of moving forward, closer to God’s calling, focused on Him as we grow in our relationship with Him. As I run, I push forward for that final goal where I’ll find restful fulfillment. The steps that have fallen behind me no longer matter. All that is left is the road ahead. I am growing stronger and fitter as I move towards my goal.