Don't Shop for Running Jeans
I like to run. I typically start every year once the snow (or ice here in Oklahoma) is done for the winter and the temperature stays fairly steady around 50 degrees (and that is about when I stop in the fall). During the colder months, I wear long pants and long sleeved t-shirt... possibly a jacket if it's really needed (after I start running I generally shed that incredibly warm layer of jacket). Of course, as the months go by and the temperatures start warming up, I change my outfits. I go from pants to capris to shorts. Yesterday, when I went to run after work, it was 94 degrees, and I had on my usual shorts and t-shirt for this time of year. As I ended my second interval, I noticed something very interesting and slightly disturbing.
There were a couple of people wearing jeans and jackets walking in the park. In my shorts and tee shirt (with sleeves rolled up over my shoulders and a baseball hat keeping most of the sweat from running into my eyes), I thought they were crazy! How in the world can you walk in 94 degrees of heat (because it was hot even with the wind blowing) in jeans and a jacket? It made me hot just thinking about it. Now, I have a hard enough time in the heat without mentally adding more degrees to my two laps around the park. It made me think of that commercial where the women are all taking off their outer layers of clothing because they were having hot flashes. That's how I felt each time I saw the jeans. I really wasn't quite sure if I should feel sorry for them or for myself! I don't even like to be indoors on a treadmill without a fan blowing in my direction (and I prefer it blowing right on me - and don't even THINK of getting in front of it!). Imagine me running or even walking in jeans and a jacket in 94 degrees. No. It just will NEVER happen (well, alright I might suffer through it for a great cause). As it is, my hat is soaking wet by the time I throw it into the trunk of my car!
So, I'm running in the park wearing fairly light clothing, thinking of the jeans and jackets, getting so warm that i want to shed my own clothes (like that commercial), telling myself that it must be time to switch to a tank top when I run, and out of the blue Hebrews 12:1 pops into my head.
"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let
us run with endurance the race that is set before us." (NKJV)
I thought about how difficult it is for me (in my very light clothes) to get up the inclines (because I'm not a great long distance runner...yet), and how difficult it must be for them to walk around the park in heavy jeans and jackets. I also thought how many times I think to myself how warm I am even in my own choice of running clothes! What would it be like for all of us if we just laid aside all that weight that is holding us down or holding us back? What would it be like for us if we shed it in order to run the race and run it with endurance?
This year, I have dropped quite a few pounds thanks to my decrease in calorie intake and increase in caloric burn (yes, by the way, that really does work). As this weight has dropped off, my ability to run farther and faster has increased. This is the first year that my speed has increased from when I began in the spring (in past years I have just increased my distance). I find it more easy to breathe without quite so many pounds weighing me down. I also noticed that I don't want to fall into my car after I run either! I actually come away energized (which is why I run after work when it's warm or otherwise I won't get to sleep at bedtime).
All of us have things in our lives that we have held onto when we shouldn't hold on to them. We are addicted to approval...we love food...we love T.V. I could name tons of things that could be holding you back. You could probably name some off yourself. Some of these things we know are there and some things we don't. These unknown weights have been apart of our lives for so long that we just don't even notice them anymore (if we ever even knew they existed). But what benefit do we have by keeping these weights when the Lord has given us deliverance and grace so freely? What exactly do we think we will gain by holding them close to us? All we have to do to get rid of the extra weights in our lives (no matter what they are - mental, physical, or spiritual) is to accept the grace that our Lord paid the price to give us and stop trying to run this race in our own strength! And by accepting this freely given gift, we can run faster and farther than we ever thought possible.
In this frame of mind, I took my next step to becoming a long distance runner. I've been a interval runner for about seven years now, and for the first time, I ran up the second hill at the park and actually ran down just about to the park entrance (not quite to the end, but almost....it's certainly the longest - and hardest - interval I've ever done). I was quite proud of myself....completely out of breath, but certainly proud of myself!
Micale
There were a couple of people wearing jeans and jackets walking in the park. In my shorts and tee shirt (with sleeves rolled up over my shoulders and a baseball hat keeping most of the sweat from running into my eyes), I thought they were crazy! How in the world can you walk in 94 degrees of heat (because it was hot even with the wind blowing) in jeans and a jacket? It made me hot just thinking about it. Now, I have a hard enough time in the heat without mentally adding more degrees to my two laps around the park. It made me think of that commercial where the women are all taking off their outer layers of clothing because they were having hot flashes. That's how I felt each time I saw the jeans. I really wasn't quite sure if I should feel sorry for them or for myself! I don't even like to be indoors on a treadmill without a fan blowing in my direction (and I prefer it blowing right on me - and don't even THINK of getting in front of it!). Imagine me running or even walking in jeans and a jacket in 94 degrees. No. It just will NEVER happen (well, alright I might suffer through it for a great cause). As it is, my hat is soaking wet by the time I throw it into the trunk of my car!
So, I'm running in the park wearing fairly light clothing, thinking of the jeans and jackets, getting so warm that i want to shed my own clothes (like that commercial), telling myself that it must be time to switch to a tank top when I run, and out of the blue Hebrews 12:1 pops into my head.
"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let
us run with endurance the race that is set before us." (NKJV)
I thought about how difficult it is for me (in my very light clothes) to get up the inclines (because I'm not a great long distance runner...yet), and how difficult it must be for them to walk around the park in heavy jeans and jackets. I also thought how many times I think to myself how warm I am even in my own choice of running clothes! What would it be like for all of us if we just laid aside all that weight that is holding us down or holding us back? What would it be like for us if we shed it in order to run the race and run it with endurance?
This year, I have dropped quite a few pounds thanks to my decrease in calorie intake and increase in caloric burn (yes, by the way, that really does work). As this weight has dropped off, my ability to run farther and faster has increased. This is the first year that my speed has increased from when I began in the spring (in past years I have just increased my distance). I find it more easy to breathe without quite so many pounds weighing me down. I also noticed that I don't want to fall into my car after I run either! I actually come away energized (which is why I run after work when it's warm or otherwise I won't get to sleep at bedtime).
All of us have things in our lives that we have held onto when we shouldn't hold on to them. We are addicted to approval...we love food...we love T.V. I could name tons of things that could be holding you back. You could probably name some off yourself. Some of these things we know are there and some things we don't. These unknown weights have been apart of our lives for so long that we just don't even notice them anymore (if we ever even knew they existed). But what benefit do we have by keeping these weights when the Lord has given us deliverance and grace so freely? What exactly do we think we will gain by holding them close to us? All we have to do to get rid of the extra weights in our lives (no matter what they are - mental, physical, or spiritual) is to accept the grace that our Lord paid the price to give us and stop trying to run this race in our own strength! And by accepting this freely given gift, we can run faster and farther than we ever thought possible.
In this frame of mind, I took my next step to becoming a long distance runner. I've been a interval runner for about seven years now, and for the first time, I ran up the second hill at the park and actually ran down just about to the park entrance (not quite to the end, but almost....it's certainly the longest - and hardest - interval I've ever done). I was quite proud of myself....completely out of breath, but certainly proud of myself!
Micale
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