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This photo was taken by our daughter, Sarah Timmons, or my wife, depending on who you ask. We were in Rehoboth Beach, DE on Easter Sunday, 2011.


Several years ago, on the way home from a family vacation, I picked up a notebook and quickly recorded an incident that had occurred involving our son. Eventually, I used that story to illustrate something about my spiritual walk as a believer in Christ. Thus began a deliberate attempt to document the significance of everyday events. Almost any ordinary circumstance in daily life can become fodder for another story. This, almost by definition, lends itself to a blog.

Of course, many of the entries here are just ordinary diary style stuff... the stuff of ordinary blogs. Good grief, I don't want to be ordinary.


Sunday, July 24, 2016

Enjoy the Run

I've been a runner since my senior year of college, when I started preparing for the Army PT test.  I'm not the compulsive kind of runner... I've skipped whole months, even whole years of running.  But this post isn't about running, so relax.  You won't feel guilty about your own state of physical activity if you read it.

Full disclosure - I run because I'm not a gifted athlete.  And by not gifted, I mean that no amount of training makes me much better at any given sport.  Maybe it's all in my head, and my inability is really a self-fulfilled prophesy.  We will never know.

But I can run.

Running is easy.  Apart from physical limitations, anyone can run. And even the un-gifted athlete can increase his endurance and speed.  It just takes an investment of time and perseverance.  Good shoes are a plus too.

There's another reason running suits me.  Running can be done alone.  At any given moment, you can just walk out the door and start running.  No planning, no coordinating with others, no putting anything on the calendar.  AND, in the midst of running, it's just you and your thoughts.

So here's a thought.  Enjoy the Run

Stick with me here.

I don't care what they say -NO ONE really enjoys running in the typical sense of the word,  like you enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning, or watching the sunset, or Friday at 5:00.  The enjoyment of running is a complex thing.

For me, it basically means this - I enjoy the idea that I'm doing something that's the right thing to do for me, even though it's uncomfortable.  It's right for me, because distance running is about balance. And I'm a firm believer in balance.  Yup, this is an idea stolen right out of Karate Kid.

Here's where we get to the part about enjoying the run.  This doesn't come naturally.  The tendency in running (at least mine) is to put a run on a schedule, complete it, and then log it on my OCD spreadsheet.  It becomes just another to-do list - something I can say I did, just for the sake of accomplishment.

And when it becomes that, all the life drains out of it.

At its best though, running is about balance.  Running always involves managing discomfort.  Your body tells you continuously that you need to slow down or stop. It doesn't want you to run.  But sometimes you DO need to slow down, or even stop.  Balance.  There is often some amount of pain to manage that comes with training, which you press through.   And then there's the pain of injury, which is different from the above, and requires a whole different approach to manage it.  You may need to lay off a while, slow up, or run less.  Balance.  On top of that,  there's the pace to consider.  Distance running is about balancing the use of energy.  The idea is to allow your body to use energy at about the same rate as it can convert it.  Balance.

With all that in mind, the distance runner strikes out on a run.   When he does it right, when everything falls into place, he actually enjoys it.  He enjoys the moment. And for that to happen, there must be that critical factor.

There must be balance.

In that run, there is discomfort.  His body wants to stop, there may be some pain, he is breathing hard yet doesn't feel as though he is lacking for oxygen.  He is not just thinking about finishing the run.  He is focused on balancing all the discomfort, and that is a good thing.

Striking that balance does not happen during every run.  But when it does, it is intensely satisfying - yes - practically enjoyable.

And so it is with life.

A friend of mine recently posted some thoughts about getting caught up in just getting through the day, only to be faced with the same process the next.  It's no way to live.  In fact, it isn't really living at all, it's more like surviving. 

Living should be much more than survival.  Living well will often involve discomfort.... the trick is to manage it.  But when it is done right, it feels like a good run... uncomfortable at times, fatiguing, but intensely satisfying.  It takes an incredible amount of energy to focus on the moment and to realize that these minutes of intensity are in fact changing us for the good. 

Yes, we can enjoy the run.