"Personal Best!"

Running/Jogging is a thinking man’s sport. You can exercise while thinking of something else. No pesky scores to remember or teammates with attitudes “We get it Carl you PLAYED QUARTERBACK IN HIGH SCHOOL!” Forest Gump got it right when he said “I just felt like running”… of course he did. Is there any better feeling for the body than sweating it out after a hard run? Maybe running isn’t a traditional sport with competition and defense but for me it does the same thing.

Life is like running (and a box of chocolates). We start out with help and instruction but eventually are expected to figure it out alone. Some of us can’t get past the breathing exercise and the weight loss. Others can’t go more than a hundred yards without support or help from friends, family. Many never get training at all and have to rely on what they observe or feel. A rare few figure out their pace and stride hard all the way through. Most of us have some “am I doing it right?” type questions along the way.

 I had to think about what I really like about running though. It isn’t like I run every day or have a long tradition of signing up for races. I didn’t run track or cross country in high school. I developed a keen interest in jogging while in the Army. By ‘keen interest’ I mean forced to points of exhaustion against my will on a regular basis.  That is probably where it started, the pressing importance of getting exercise through running.

Running has taught me lessons since I started doing it regularly. Serious athletes run marathons and half marathons and keep schedules for total miles and have nutrition charts. All that is great but I just like the feeling of completing a goal. The goal isn’t usually too tough, 2 or 3 miles at most. The biggest lesson from running? Finish what you started even if you have to limb along the last few yards.

Running is unlike other sports or exercise because it is grueling where tennis and basketball are sporadic and intense. Jogging doesn’t require quick bursts or aggressive moves; it is steady and consistent. It forces us to feel every muscle getting weaker and straining with a goal that seems unreachable.

Life is this way. It requires constant attention and focus and occasionally we think we might die with another step. Learning to push through and endure when the muscles start to give out is what growth is all about. Knowing when to slow the pace or open the stride requires experience in running. Experienced runners know their body and the limits to which they can push. They understand what pain to ignore and which demands attention.

Amazingly the military figured out elements long ago about the human body and the human mind that are universal for fitness. Start each day running. Run a little; run a lot. Run with goals that progress to higher standards to show measured improvement.

Few people are cut out to run grueling marathons and competitive distance races. There is a pace for everyone that suites their talents, needs, desires and circumstances. Too many of us are comfortable with our current routine, fixated only on the moment and not wanting to improve. Worse still are the ones who sat down and decided running wasn’t for them years ago. Amazingly they don’t believe in running or think it’s for others, more fit people perhaps.

 They would be surprised how easy it is to start though. And how much their efforts, not even success but effort, could inspire those around them. The simple act of beginning, taking small steps and slowly walking a little every day then running a little every day can be the difference. Running doesn’t have to be exhausting but it does require some discipline to start. Discover a new personal best.

Life is like running, we all start but not all keep going.

“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