LIFE IN BLOOM

Learning How to Flourish in God's Grace

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Lessons from My 5K

This weekend, I ran my first 5k.  With Preacherman accompanying me the entire time, I ran (the whole time!) and finished right at my goal time!  It was tough, but it was good.

Now, in my former life, I was a runner.  Let me correct that- I was a SPRINTER.  I say that because there is a difference between being a sprinter and being a distance runner.  Preacherman, in his younger days, was a cross country champion.  He started “training” for the 5k about 3-4 weeks before the race.  I started training about 6-8 weeks before the race.  I knew that while I had running experience, it wasn’t going to be enough to get me across the finish line so I was determined to prepare accordingly.

Despite my desire to prepare accordingly, I wasn’t able to complete my running plan due to some changes in our schedule.  As a result, I came into the race on Saturday having not run (at all) since the previous Monday. I ran the first half of the race pretty easily- and felt great.  After that, I began to struggle, probably feeling my lowest between 2 and 2.5 miles.  Through it all, Preacherman was super encouraging, and never left me behind.  Though there were points where I was able to push myself, I really struggled.

As we approached the end of the race, I felt myself being able to provide a burst of energy to finish (and meet my goal time).  I finished, almost  in a full-out sprint, and was overjoyed.  One of my bucket list items was complete and I had pushed myself beyond what I believed I could do.  This experience was great physically, but also mentally.  Here’s some things that I learned from my 5K:

  1. It’s not enough to train for the race.  You have to train for the course.
  2. You need to have people on your team who’ve been where you been to encourage you for where you’re going.
  3. While it’s great to finish strong, you should train in such a way that you can be strong for the duration of the race, not just the end. 

 

Lesson 1: It’s not enough to train for the race.  You have to train for the course.

I did ALL of my training for the 5k in the gym, on the treadmill.  For about 6-8 weeks, about 3 times  a week, I hit the gym and followed my training plan.  While I did increase the speed as I was training, never once did I increase the incline.  When it came time to run the race, my body was shocked at the number of hills we were climbing.  Had I prepared for the course, instead of just preparing for the race, I would have been better equipped and could have possibly finished faster than I did.

Lesson 2: You need to have people on your team who’ve been where you’ve been to encourage you for where you’re going.

As I mentioned, Preacherman is a former cross country runner.  He ran the race with ease and confidence.  His support was integral to my finishing the race and meeting my goal.  Since he has run many 5Ks over the course of his life, he was able to effectively encourage me for the race.  If we had run separately, I probably would have finished 10 minutes slower than I did.  With his encouragement, I was able to run the race marked out for me with perseverance.

Lesson 3: While it’s great to finish strong, you should train in such a way that you can be strong for the duration of the race, not just the end. 

On the way home after the 5k, Preacherman told me how proud he was of me for my strong finish.  But then he said, “You know, if you were able to finish strong, you probably could have done more the entire time.”  I was initially shocked, but I realized that he was right.  With better, more consistent training, I would have been able to not only have more endurance, but more speed.  While I am proud of my strong finish, my goal for the next 5k (and there will be more) is to run a stronger race for the duration of the race.  I need to work on my timing and my pacing.

I’ve been mulling over these lessons for the past few days, striving to apply them not just to my running, but to my life.  In the race of life, I want to be prepared for the race and (as much as possible) the course.  I want to build a team of mentors who can encourage me as I strive to get to the next level.  I want to run a strong race with endurance to the end.  And at the end, I want to get the prize.

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.” – 1 Corinthians 9:24-25

Be encouraged!  Peace and Blessings!


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Empowered by the Wait

Waiting is not my specialty.  I can do it, but it’s not something that I’m great at.  I’m easily annoyed by stoplights that are longer than I think they should be.  I get frustrated when people take FOREVER in the check out line (are you REALLY writing a check?!?), and making me wait in the drive-through line is just sinister.  I just don’t like to wait.

Part of this is from our culture of immediacy, where we can get anything and everything that we need on our smartphones in about .5 seconds.  We can reheat dinner in 2 minutes thanks to a microwave.  I can “rent” a movie by just clicking an option with the remote, and within seconds it’s there.  It’s difficult to be good at something, (and even more difficult to like it) if I never have to do it.

A few weeks ago, my pastor was preaching about how the anointing changes us, but that also how part of how we are changed is through having to wait.  Learning to endure.  Developing patience and in some cases, long suffering.  There’s a perseverance that comes only from having to wait something out, or see a process through until the end.

I thought about this some more this morning, after having a conversation with Preacherman.  Usually our four-year old is okay with the time it takes for her Daddy to come get her from bed in the morning and she doesn’t call out for him to get her.  But this morning, our conversation was a little longer, and she called out to him.  I encouraged him to wait just a little longer, and not to move immediately, because we’re working on developing her patience.  He asked if I wanted him to wait until she called out again with more urgency (her “urgency” call outs are HILARIOUS, and we’re not abusing the child, we can totally distinguish between fake urgency and real urgency #justsaying).  I thought that would be a good idea (and a funny start to the morning).

As Preacherman got up, I began to think about how God makes us wait.  If you follow me on Twitter, you probably saw this stream of consciousness.  But here’s what I’ve learned about having to wait:

  1. When you call out to God and He doesn’t respond, it doesn’t mean that He’s not there or that He’s not listening.  Sometimes God waits to respond to us because he needs for something to develop IN us that can only happen through us having to wait.
  2. We have to remember to “let perseverance finish its’ perfect work so that we may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.“
  3. When we don’t immediately receive what we’ve been asking for, we appreciate it more.
  4. You learn how strong you are and how much willpower you have when you have to wait for something that has been promised.
  5. You gain the ability to see things from a totally different perspective when you don’t immediately receive what you’ve been believing for.

Even though we don’t LIKE to wait, there are advantages to it.  Oftentimes, we don’t pay attention to the advantages of waiting and instead become bitter by the process.  But if we allow it to happen, we can become empowered by the wait.  There are some things that I’ve been believing God for since I got saved nearly 10 years ago that have not yet come to pass.  But I’m still waiting and believing.  And I’m empowered because I’ve seen how God has worked in the lives of others, and how He has answered other prayers that I’ve had.  He is faithful and He ALWAYS keeps His promises.

“God is not human, that he should lie,not a human being, that he should change his mind.  Does he speak and then not act?  Does he promise and not fulfill?” – Numbers 23:19

Be encouraged!  Peace and Blessings!