I’m a Christian, and I’m a runner

Running is a significant part of my life. It’s significant enough that in a blog that is mostly about Christian stuff and working for Jesus I will include this entry all about running and my life. Some people think running is boring. To me it’s a part of my life that won’t go away until my legs do. When you really like something you can talk about it for hours but I’ll try to keep this entry shorter than that. No promises.

I started running the winter of my freshmen year of high school. I was a soccer player who played year-round and wasn’t good at any other team sport. My friends who were in the same boat went out for indoor track and so I followed them. I fell into distance running because nothing else seemed to be like something I would be decent at. My dad ran a lot when he was younger and so getting into the sport appealed to me as well. My second race I got put into the varsity mile for some reason and ran 5:23. Not a great time but for a freshmen I was like wow this is kind of fun and I was hooked.

I didn’t get serious about track till junior year when I finally broke 5 minutes in the mile and my teammates said I should do cross-country(XC) instead of soccer my senior year. I told them if I got cut from varsity soccer I would do XC. I got cut that fall and went out for the team. I had no idea what XC was about but I got 3rd overall in my second race. I was in the top 3 or 4 on my team that season. The 3 captains were all seniors and good friends of mine. It was a blast. I destroyed myself in workouts and we got 3rd in the league. After doing pretty decent in track I decided to run in college.

People always ask how much I run and usually I’m loathe to answer because it’s not a set distance and people generally freak out when I tell them. But for the sake of freaking people out here are some fun stats.
Most miles I ever ran in a month: 322
Most miles I ever ran in a week: over 80
Longest measured run I ever done without stopping: 16.25 miles
Miles I ran in the 2006 calendar year: 2,736

While my stats don’t approach the obsession of Olympians (where 100 miles a week is the norm,) they are a bit crazy. People say “I could never do that!” or “how do you do that?” It’s pretty simple really. I’m an athlete. I like doing athletic things. I’m not blessed with great skill or even talent (I was never close to qualifying for nationals) but I have a work ethic and ability to not get injured (knock on wood) that rivals most. Running is something I'm decent at and it gives me joy when I do it, even when it hurts.

I’m over a year out of college now and I run considerably less. I write this entry because I am running a marathon in January to qualify for Boston next April. I’m doing a plan that is much easier than college, because running here can be hard but I should in good shape by the new year.

Most people hate running as a dreaded obligation to be done to avoid being fat or out of shape. For me it’s simply part of my life whether I do it a lot or a little. I hope that everyone finds something (after they find Jesus) that gives them as much joy as running has for me.

I told you no promises.