Running

I've started running again. I ended up stopping during the Winter months that I've been home in Canada. I'd gotten used to year round mild weather in England and had forgotten how cold it can get over here in our large country.

I first went out Monday of this week as it was beautifully mild, if not a bit cloudy. As I hit the pavement the familiarity of the exhilaration and freedom I find in running began to surge through me. I thought "now why on earth did I let cold weather stop me from this!" There was only one problem. Not having run for about 3 -4 months my body wasn't in the same condition that my mind seemed to be remembering. With the goal of running a marathon in mind I'd managed to achieve running half the distance (13 miles). However, it was soooooooooo hard to get going for those first two miles. - I find that it usually takes me about 2 miles to get warmed up and ready to go any further. I felt slow, sluggish and like my muscles that were once lean and hard had suddenly gone soft and spongy. I was only slightly discouraged though, as I've managed to get out twice since then and it is getting increasingly easier. Today I was actually joined by a friend! I ran past an old cabin on the dirt road behind my house and this huge, dopey, floppy, black, brown and white dog came bounding out of the driveway and joined me running down the road. He actually stayed with me for a good mile. He was very friendly. He was jumping all around me then running into the puddles in the ditch and returning and soaking my legs. He was very cute though. If I had been looking for a dog he would've been the perfect one. Big, a bit shaggy but completely lovable. Maybe it was love at first sight - as far as animals go (don't worry Russ, you've not got any competition)

Anyway, sorry for the tangent. What I wanted to say was this, while running I started thinking about the spiritual parallel I could take out of the situation. Sometimes we can really grow in our faith and build up our spiritual muscles. We can go through experiences that train us to grow closer to God and we learn so much. But, if we don't continue to use what we've gained we can lose our edge. What can remember what we learned and the memory and knowledge can remain in our minds but it can fail to be action. All of a sudden we find that what we remember is harder to put into action than we thought. We can get lazy and complacent.

I guess I always equate exercise to our spiritual lives as well. There are verses about running the race before us and running to win the goal, fixing our eyes on the target, persevering. I find these all particularly relevant to me since running something I love but I am reminded as well about the spiritual application to my life. I don't know if I always live it as best as I should but I try my best. I believe it was Paul who said that physical training is of some value but spiritual training has value in all things.