Building the Track

"Stick with it!"

"Stay on track!"

"You can do it!"

Encouraging words for a runner.  We need them, and embrace them, but if we 

don't know what our "it" is, then we're not going to get anywhere.

Our track must first be built.

In order to have a track to follow, we must make some goals.  They can be

simple goals, small goals, or they can be big, exciting and long-term.  They serve as our

inspiration and our conscience; our friends and our foes.  But regardless of what

they seem like on any given day,

goals are what keep us going when things get tough.

I am writing from a frustrating place, as I have been unable to run for weeks 

due to a strain in a hip flexor muscle.  I have felt angry, worried, hopeful, and resigned.

I have noticed the irony in the fact that I started a running blog while not running.

But still, the track lays before me.

I have laid the track over the past year.  

A track of purpose and determination and forward momentum.

And it has kept me going.

So today, I get to run.  I am excited and nervous, anxious to get going, but cautious,

wondering if my leg will hold up to the challenge.

The goals I set for myself stretch out 

beyond my present circumstances:

  

~a 5K in two weeks, just praying to finish without pain

~increasing my distance each week, bit by bit

~decreased fatigue in my day, trusting in my body's renewing capabilities

~a long term goal of a half-marathon in February

~increasing my speed

~toning this near-forty-year-old body; better health than when I was 20

~listen to the Spirit's voice, always be open to His leading
~always be running toward the prize of eternal life in Christ. 
 That's what it's all for anyway, right?

Let's share goals.  
What are yours?


They could be as simple as making it to the next mailbox out on your run tomorrow.  Or as profound as using your running to work through to forgiveness for a wrong done to you. 


Leave your goals in the comments, and let's encourage each other
on this journey.  I will be praying for you!

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