OK – Who Fartlek'd?

Fartlek - here’s a word that for understandable reasons I don’t use around my kids.  But it can be a pretty useful word if you’re a runner and also running this race called life.  When it comes to running we have fast twitch muscles and slow twitch muscles.  I tend to have more of the slow variety.  To get my body to go faster I need these muscles to get used to going faster.  Make sense?

Now I could just try to get out there and run 3 to 4 miles at my desired speed, and realize about a quarter mile into it that this just isn’t working out.  But we do that all the time, don’t we?  We may decide we want to do more for God – to pick up our pace if you will.  So we jump all in.  We volunteer to teach that toddler Sunday school class, or read 30 minutes of the Bible a day, or spend 10 hours a week volunteering wherever.  And very quickly we realize that we weren’t ready for this, we can’t keep up at the new pace.  We want to improve, add a new ministry, develop a new skill, but just can’t keep up at the new pace.  So we give up. 

Time to fartlek!

The American Heritage defines fartlek as:  An athletic training technique, used especially in running, in which periods of intense effort alternate with periods of less strenuous effort in a continuous workout. An athletic training technique, used especially in running, in which periods of intense effort alternate with periods of less strenuous effort in a continuous workout.

When I fartlek, I’ll start off by running at my usual slow pace for about a mile.  Then for the next couple miles I increase my pace for short periods, maybe a few hundred feet, or 3-4 lamp posts or a couple fire hydrants, then slow back down for to my usual pace to recover for about the same distance and then repeat the cycle.  During those short bursts my body begins to get used to the new pace without getting overly burnt out.  If I keep it up and fartlek on a regular basis – I can spend more and more time at this new pace and maybe knock off a little bit of time on my next race.

So instead of jumping in and teaching that new class – volunteer to assist and teach maybe every 3^rd or 4^th lesson.  Want to read 30 minutes a day, start with 10.  Want to volunteer 10 hours a week, start with 1 or 2. When you realize you can do that, you’ll also realize you can do more.   Eventually you’ll get used to the new pace, and be able to sustain and increase it throughout your Christian race. 

And you can say – “Uhh…yes…It was I who fartlek'd”.

But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere.    For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.  To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task?  (2 Corinthians 2:14-16).

So let's pick up the pace a bit and ...

Run on!

The Race Goes On...

 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.

1 Corinthians 9:26

The Christian Race is like a marathon in many ways except one very important way.  A marathon is 26.2 miles.  No more, no less.  It takes a lot of training to run a marathon (of which I better get busy), but when I run it I know how far I need to go to get the prize.  The Christian Race does not offer us a finite end point, a finish line accurately measured out for us.  Those that run it finish at different points, only known before hand by the Master Runner and Creator of the race.  For some, the race may seem to go on and on and on…for others, as I’ve experienced in the last week, the finish line comes much earlier.  The prize is the same … the pursuit is the same … in all cases we must keep our eyes fixed on Jesus if we are to successfully finish the race.

So what does this all mean?  It means we run with our eyes on the prize continuously.  We don’t stray, we don’t wander aimlessly.  We don’t know when we will reach the finish line.  It could be today, tomorrow, or 30 years from now.  So we must stay the course. 

Tomorrow my marathon training continues.   I have a lot of work to do.  For reasons you probably already understand I got off my training schedule a bit and need to refocus.  I’m not going to say it will be unbearably tough because I do enjoy running.  But it’s not easy either.  Much like the Christian race – the joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10), so we can find joy as we run, and that sustains us as we face the hills and valleys, the cold weather and the storms, and keep pressing on until we do reach the finish line – whenever that may come.

Run On!

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

2 Timothy 4:7

It’s been a bit since I added to this blog, and this is definitely not the post I wanted to write.  My brother Greg unexpectedly passed away last night. Greg is not supposed to be gone, not now.  We had a race to run – Greg, his wife, and me – the Piittsburgh Marathon, May 6, 2012.  That is why this blog started.  That is what we both were looking forward to.

You see, I have run marathons before – 7 in all.  But over the last 8 years I stopped running.  Yeah, life happened – 4 more kids, job changes, getting older. Got a bit out of shape too. And my knees hurt, really hurt – but not bad enough to impress the doctors to do anything drastic.  Then my sister-in-law Lynn, Greg’s wife started running.  She posted a lot on FaceBook – “ran this many miles, etc”  I was happy for her, but jealous.  I missed running.  Then a year or so ago Greg started running – lost a lot of weight and looked real good.  So proud of him. I was jealous enough to give running a try again – actually it was like God prompted me to get back, maybe to connect with Greg, maybe to write this blog.   But my knees! Almost a year later and the knees haven’t been a problem.  Greg says it was I who encouraged him to run the Pittsburgh Marathon, but actually dear brother; it was you who encouraged me.  I wish I could have told you.

Greg has been an encouragement to me.  He gave his life to Christ before me and helped lead me to Christ. In return, I introduced him to his wife.  We went to college together, lived on the same street for a few years while I was stationed in Florida.  Greg loved the Lord, and served Him well.  He fought the good fight, he finished the race – he kept the faith.  I will miss you brother – but we still have a race to run together – and I look forward to it.  Just let me know what kind of running shoes work best on streets of gold.  

Until then, I’ll keep running.