This Sunday I ran 9.06 miles. Another milestone. Incredible. It was the hardest run I’ve ever done. Not because of the miles. But because of it just being hard.
It’s interesting, last week I ran 8.5 miles on the same trail. For some reason, I felt pretty good and thought I could have run even further. This run was really difficult. It was hard from the start. I was trying to figure out what the deal was. The week before we had just come back from Chicago. Lots of pizza, Coke, Cheescake, and not good sleep. This week I had eaten better, gotten sleep, and was mentally gearing up. It wound up being a fight the whole way. I can speculate why. But truthfully I don’t know.
The entire run I was slow. Trying to keep up with Joel who was trying to make sure we kept a good pace. Music didn’t help. Some messages on my iPod didn’t work. It was just hard running. We wound up running from Spring Arbor to Concord and back. As with every run, it felt good to hit the finish line. But the past two days my body has been rebelling against me. Back, right foot, and left knee hurt. I’m healed up enough to get out there today and run a short 5.
What I’m learning about my spiritual journey is that sometimes the same holds true. Some days when I’ve read my Bible, spent time in prayer, and really prepared myself spiritually, the wheels come off. Then other days or weeks/seasons where I’m really out of practice, I’m in the zone with Jesus. I can’t explain it. Don’t know how it works. Wonder if just like running, there are good runs and bad ones. Easy runs and hard runs. But they are runs. Same with my journey. What matters is I’m running. In my physical life and spiritual one.
