Joyful running

A few nights before my long Saturday run, I read an excellent, uplifting paragraph in Ryan Hall's (a Christian American elite marathon runner) book "Running for Joy".  It was from a chapter when he was ill and had not been able to run, so has taken a look at his priorities and when his heart lies - is it all about the 2 big races he does per year, and getting the best time possible and possibility winning the race?  Or is it about something deeper - his relationship with Jesus and on-going joy and love of running?  This really struck a chord with me, as I realised that I was focusing too much on times, pace and distance and this was getting me down.  In my heart, why should I run?  I should get joy from running - whatever the time or result - because God has blessed me with the ability to run long distances in the first place and when I am out I can get away from the day-to-day distractions if life and have some spiritual time.  Even if you are not religious I expect many people run for some sort of deeper or spiritual reason where they get the most enjoyment from simply running for joy and not obsessing over times. So during this long run i tried to appreciate simply running because I was able to and thanking Jesus that I could do that and that He could also run with me!!  I often get mental images and pictures or thoughts in my mind during a really good run which I believe to be words of encouragement from Jesus. 

Sometimes they are difficult thoughts that I first i don't like to confront - at one point I got hung up on the fact that God seemed to give great ability to a tiny handful of elite runners like Ryan Hall whilst the rest of us plodded on without even the hope of getting a good for age time.  Why are some people so lucky and blessed but the vast majority of us struggle with average times and capabilities, just trying to finish?  Then I got two more thoughts - firstly, "average" times are still an amazing achievement and something to be be very thankful of at all.  Whether it's running, another sport or a totally different goal, we can't always be an elite in our field or even get a PB every time but that doesn't mean we can't get joy and satisfaction from what we do.  Secondly, only a few people can win a race or qualify as an elite, and they can help encourage club runners and the rest of us mortals by talking about their experiences, giving advice and if they are a Christian, sharing their joy and blessing with the rest of us!  And that can be really amazing!  God will always try to use us to help spread His messages, He can use the elites to encourage the masses and then I will try and do my part by writing this blog and sharing my experiences.  Maybe it will help someone who wants to start running do their own 5k race!!  How cool would that be!  Reading these athlete's accounts about how God has helped them helps me apply it to me own life.   I had a poor run at Brighton and could have let it get to me, but then a good run later on - if i had not been reminded of the real reason for running I may have let my disappointment from Brighton turn into bitterness and then I may have been very negative about Saturday's long run.

I know not everyone reading this is a believer but maybe you have some kind of spiritual attitudes and think that deep down running (or your own sport, etc) should be primarily about bring joy and finding some peace and not just about hitting targets and obsessing over PBs.