After a year

It has now been just over a year since Molly forced talked me into joining a running club with her. July 26, 2011 was my first run (the 2nd BCRT run), and I am pretty sure all I did was walk 2 miles instead of running 3. This would be followed by several months of mostly walking the 3 miles, if I did the 3. Here’s how I looked (from behind) in August of last year:

I left Petra in this cropped photo (that I shamelessly stole from BCRT’s FB album which contains several unflattering rear shots of me) because I am like twice as big as her. :-/ I know, I’m freakishly tall. lol 🙂

This is from mid-July after having lost 32 pounds:

This is also shamelessly stolen from BCRT’s Fb album, but I at least know exactly who took this one (being frontal and all). I had already seen Tim snapping around so I was sucking in when Eva walked up and snapped the hubster and I. I’m pretty sure I am still twice as big as Petra. LOL

But that isn’t really what I intended to write about. This past Saturday I had to run 6 miles. (If I hadn’t taken a week off for my knee, it would have been 7.) I barely lasted 5 the weekend before, and was pretty unsure that I would be able to keep myself psyched up. Less than half a mile into it, when I turned the first corner, I smelled breakfast cooking from someone’s house. I assumed it was the house on my left as it is closer to the road and I could see a light on. Anyway, I kept chugging along, and eventually made it to the 3.1 mile mark and noted the time (since I had signed up for a virtual 5K). But by the time I made it up that hill I wanted to quit. Bad. Or maybe that was before the 3 mile mark. I forget. Anyway, on my long runs I have discovered that it is a great time to pray and meditate. Since I do my long runs on Saturday mornings fairly early, there is hardly any traffic, and generally no one outside, so it’s just me & God. No computer to distract me. Music low enough that I can hear traffic. It is perfect for listening.

Lately I have been reading The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges, and so I was mulling over what I’d read so far and how to apply it. On the front cover, the latter portion of 1 Corinthians 9:24 is printed “Run in such a way as to get the prize.” So naturally I am thinking about that as I am running…and wanting to quit. So I prayed for the will and endurance to run that morning so that I would have that as a constant metaphor for remembering that the Holy Spirit will help me with strength and will and endurance in tough times of life…resisting temptation, and finishing the race. And I ran a 10k – 6.24 miles.

So, call me a nutroll for believing God gave me the ability to complete that run Saturday. I’ve been called a nutroll for much worse. 😉 But, 2 days later, and I got hit with another “trial” which is really an on-going one that is either active or pending. I got angry…again…and wondered just how much…again…and then I remembered that run. And then I remembered this:

James 1:2-4 (ESV)
2 Count it all joy, my brothers,[a] when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Followed by this:

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (ESV)
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

I am not promised strength for finishing a run, but I am promised strength to endure the trials of life and to overcome temptation. So if God answers my prayer to have the will to run 6 miles, which I am not promised, I can believe he will sustain me through this trial. As one of my friends pointed out to me last night, He has a plan for what is going on even though I can’t see it. And ultimately, God is going to get the glory for it.

12 Responses to 'After a year'

  1. MacBros says:

    You’ve done a great job so far – keep it up!

    • DragonLady says:

      Thanks! 🙂 It’s getting to where it’s harder to make myself eat right than run. Of course the running just makes me hungrier than normal. 😉

  2. Wow, you look amazing! Keep it up.

    I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me…

    There’s so much that can be accomplished if we simply put our faith in Christ and believe, and of course refuse to be overwhelmed by obstacles. Because we will experience those..

    I am not promised strength for finishing a run, but I am promised strength to endure the trials of life and to overcome temptation

    I really love that, preach it!

  3. Petra says:

    I am way behind on blogs right now, but I decided to open my google reader and just happened to click on this post, and what greets me? A picture of my @$$!! lol! You have shrunk and I have grown! I could probably get those shorts *on* right now but it sure wouldn’t be pretty. Ha!!

    I am so impressed with how far you’ve come in the running!!

    Great Scriptures!

    • DragonLady says:

      hahahahahahahaha! I figured you would be appreciative of that shot. :cheesy:

      I still run slow. I even pushed myself last night since it was only 3 miles, and I’m still struggling. I even came close to puking too! 😉

  4. Petra says:

    Slow compared to who? Just compare your distance and speed to what you were doing last year this time. 😉

  5. Petra says:

    lol! Maybe it’s time to cut yourself some slack. (and I say that knowing full well that I tend to compare myself to 20-something’s who have never had children) 😉

    • DragonLady says:

      Oh, yeah, and pre-child me. lol!

      Yeah, I know, but I would like, just once, to at least *match* my final run time from basic, which, by the way, I really only remember it was under 22 min for 2 miles and I had a little over a minute to spare for the cutoff.

      And of course I am my own worst critic…and totally full of pride at the same time. 😉