On the road again

Setting the stage

Today was my first day back running after recovering from tendonitis resulting stress fracture. 

I should begin by explaining that I've never been a runner.  I ran a mile for the first time around Christmas last year, 2 miles for the first time in the spring, and I completed Couch to 5K in the early spring.  Running 3 miles was a huge milestone for me, and I loved every minute that I spent running, even if it was kicking my tail!  I'm not very fast, and I don't run very far, but I think that coming back to the sidewalk post injury allows me to begin to call myself a runner.  The fast and far will come with time.

Preparation

The first day of running back in the winter was a spur of the moment plan.  A google link, my old trusty athletic shoes, and a stretch of rode that I thought was flat.

Today, however, followed several months worth of research on injury patterns and causes, new insoles, research and procurement of KT Tape and several weeks of plyometrics to rebuild some lower body strength and cardio.

Ah.. preparation.  I've settled into a snail's pace and my mind begins to grow quiet and listen.  Preparation.  How often do we run headlong into a difficult time in our lives unprepared? 

I'm reminded of a Sunday school lesson about the armor of God.  It seems I remember making armor out of a lot of cardboard and random household products, covering it in foil, and walking around clothed as a spiritual knight!  Funny memories for sure, but grown-up life requires a little more that tin-foil and duct tape.

Ephesians 6:10-20
The word armor, according to Stong's greek lexicon, is the compound of a word meaning "everything" or "whole" and another word meaning "instrument or implement for warfare."  Interesting that we aren't preparing in one area of our lives but in every single area.  Everything... that thought alone could occupy several miles.

So much of my focus on preparation for this run, and so much a cause of my failure before, was focused on my feet - insoles, tape, stretches.  I remember that the "armor passage" said something specific about feet but I needed to look more closely at what exactly.  Ahhh.. there's that word preparation again.  Ephesians 6:15 says to shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.  How do you wear preparation?

That word in the greek is a noun that refers to "the act of being prepared".  Wow.  A noun that is an action?  Exactly.  We should be so continuously preparing ourselves that the action of preparation occupies a fixed place in our lives.  It is a constant.  (Remember a noun is a person, place, thing, event, or quality.)  Preparation should be a thing or quality in our lives.  When I think of other nouns that reference actions, I think of words like breakfast, lunch, dinner, work, sleep, school....... things that are integral parts of our daily routine without even a thought. 

So we are to put on every available instrument of war and the very foundation of our lives is the act of being prepared.  Prepared with the gospel of peace. 

Now, I don't know about you, but when I think of the word gospel, I always have this mental image of someone saying, "that is the gospel," with the insinuated meaning that whatever was said is positively fact.  The word in the greek, however, has a much different connotation that I was aware of but hadn't focused on in a while.  The word gospel means "reward for good news".  The word peace means peace!  It means a state of national tranquillity, exemption from the rage and havoc of war, and peace between individuals.

So our foundation should be continuous preparation to share the reward for good news: a state of tranquility, exemption from rage, and peace between individuals.  I'm paraphrasing, but that is a wonderful foundation.

1 Peter 3:15-17
Another reference reminding us to "always be prepared" to defend the "hope that is within us" and reminding us that if we do so in a right and good (I like to think peaceful) way, there is no reason to be slandered.

 I'm not sure what preparation means to you, but I know that for me it means spending time in prayer, time reading, time listening (more of this one), and time following the little nudges and feelings I know I should heed (like typing this now).

Why are they struggling? Their road looks flat.

For years and years I thought that Union Street was flat.  Driving up or down it hundreds of times, I never noticed any hills.  That thought struck me about halfway up the gradual incline that was slowly stealing my breath and kicking my heart rate into high gear and made me laugh. 

I slowed my snail's pace down to that of an inch worm and began to listen again.  Hard to do anything else when you can't breathe!

I have to admit that I've talked to friends who were vocalizing difficult times in their lives, or observed anothers struggle from a distance and thought, "what's the big deal?"  Funny how other's roads, when the situation isn't dramatic, tend to look flat. 

I'm reminded of my first couple of 2 and 3 mile runs back in the spring.  My husband came to run with me, and, in the beginning, ran on ahead because I was slow and he was in great shape.  I was fine with running alone, and totally understood the aggravation of my creepy pace, but the run felt so much harder watching him run ahead and leave me.  A mile or two in, he realized I was struggling, and came back to run alongside me.  Nothing change about the incline, and, if anything, he pushed me to pick up the pace a little, but having someone beside me, someone running with me, made it so much easier to push past my comfort zone and cover new ground.

Another "aha!" reminder.  Run beside them up their hill.  If it feels flat to you, you can help pull them through it and encourage them to pick up the pace and cover new ground.

Why don't I just drive?

By this time, I'm feeling this invisible hill and the sunshine baking down.  Cars are flying by and I'm pondering how much quicker and easier this stretch of road is to cover in a vehicle.  They're achieving the same short-term goal as I am.

I wonder how much of life's lessons and opportunities for growth I miss by flying up hills the easy way and not taking time to experience the moment and learn the lesson? 

In pounding the pavement, I build endurance, strength, and even increase my body's ability to use the oxygen that it takes in.  I take time to be quiet, time to listen, and learn something from each step.  No matter how slight the incline, I can turn around at the top of the hill and see how far I've come, and I can look ahead and see my goal - or at least the next bend in the road.

Obviously it isn't practical to sell my car and walk or run everywhere I go, but the metaphor is strong.  Taking the time to live and learn is so valuable to building endurance, strength, and to increase our soul's ability to take in energy from the world around us.  So many of us live on fast-forward, looking straight down at the ground in front of our feet and speeding toward our next obligation.  Perhaps it's time to change that.