Finishing Strong

I lace up my tennis shoes and head out the door to my first running training course with my good friend Mary. Mary and I had decided that we both wanted to run to help us get more fit, but neither one of us were runners. I had wanted to run a 5k for a while, but lacked the motivation to get off of the couch. I knew that the course would help me to train and keep me accountable toward working to my goal of running a 5k.

The training program began pretty simple. Walk for 9 minutes and run for 1 minute, repeating this two more times for a total of 30 minutes. It seemed silly to begin this way when I knew that I had more than a minute of running in me. But I obeyed the training and continued to follow. On our own we were to increase our running to 2 minutes and decrease our walking to 8 minutes that week. That was also easy. I noticed pretty quickly though that my right ankle was bothering me while running. I knew that I didn’t have the right shoes for running. I visited a local running shoe store to get fitted for the right shoe that would help to support my feet while running. The next week at our class, I had my new running shoes on. We walked for 7 minutes and ran for 3 minutes. The shoes made such a difference! Toward the end of our course I was able to run continuously comfortably for 25-30 minutes. I knew that a 5k wasn’t that far out of reach at that point. I tried to get my friend Mary to sign up with me, but ultimately she didn’t. I signed up for my first 5k and was super excited about trying to run the entire course. Finally, it was 5k day. I was nervous about being able to run the entire distance without getting tired. I told myself something pretty simple at the start, which was you are here today because you put in the work to complete this course and just remember to keep putting your feet forward. It worked! I finished the course and ran the entire time. It was one of the best experiences yet about sheer motivation to complete something I put my mind to.

My first 5k was just three years ago and I have ran six 5ks since! The most recent 5k I signed up for I wasn’t actually able to run much at all for. I had hurt my ankle, yes same right ankle just a few weeks prior to the 5k. I gave myself permission to walk the entire 5k. However, I was motivated to try to run for at least part of it since my ankle was feeling better. I did walk most of the 5k. I was toward the end of the course and could see the finish line. I knew that I just had a bit more left, however there was a huge problem, both my ankle and knee were crying to me to just quit. I took a walk over to the curb. I put my head down and asked God to help me make it to the end. Then I took about a minute or two to try to stretch it out. Well, I am happy to report that both worked. I suddenly had no pain and the stamina to run to the finish line. I finished strong! I didn’t need to finish strong, it was more for myself knowing that I could push through anything with God’s help.

You may not be a runner like I am, but you can still take away a few things from my experience with running. When you are facing something that seems overwhelming and are ready to give up on it, just take it one step at a time. Eventually, continuing to work toward your goal by adding more and more progressively, you will get there. I remember when I first gave my life to Christ. I had such a hard time speaking the name of Jesus. The thing that sticks out in my mind that helped me to become more comfortable was listening to Christian music. I learned that it was okay to speak his name. Two verses from Proverbs come to mind. First there is 16:9 (NLT) it says: We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps. Second there is 20:24 (NLT) and it says: The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way? If you are anything like me, you want things to happen now and prefer not to taken the long drawn out path. But God often has different plans in mind and things often take a lot longer for us to get to the end goal that we envisioned and sometimes he’ll even redirect us to a new vision. I just try to remind myself that I need to take it one step at a time so that I can learn what I need to learn in this moment to achieve the ultimate goal that he has in mind for me.

Finally, my running experiences thus far have taught me a lot about never giving up and having that motivation to keep going no matter the troubles. I have found myself in several circumstances where I tend to get stuck and don’t want to keep going, even if God is nudging me. It’s hard to get past that and it is never a good feeling. But Galatians 6:9 (NLT) reminds me about not giving up: So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. This reminds me that if I walk with the Lord and in his ways that he will pour great blessings upon me. It may be tough at times but I am just remind how God rewarded Sarah with a son after many years of waiting. With God you will always finish strong.